Her
by myheartbelongstoaboywithalimp
Summary: After the death of her parents and sister during the alien invasion, Persephone Brandt had been appointed her nephew's guardian. Seph had no idea how to raise a kid who, at times, couldn't stand to be near her and also juggling two full time jobs to support him. What could happen now that she's met the First Avenger? You'll have to find out.
1. Her Best Boy

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 584**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1:_**

 ** _Restaurants, Perverts and Handsome Men at Bus Stops._**

* * *

Seph walked out of the restaurant after closing up at 8:30, sighing as she rubbed her eyes gently, careful not to smudge her make-up as she walked a couple blocks to the nearest bus stop.

It had been a long day and she could hardly believe that she managed to get through it all, despite the constant flow of lewd assholes that seemed to flock to all the female staff as if they were wolves on the hunt. Let's just say that Seph was more than a little forceful, having almost broken an empty beer bottle over one guy's head who looked old enough to be her grandfather, smacked one guy who could have looked to be her age _and should have known better_ , and then got hit on by another guy who looked old enough to be. . . well, let's just say that he should be in the history books. In the Medieval section.

Seph pulled the jacket around her body tighter as she sat down on the cold metal bench, the chill of the New York air setting in and now, she was regretting have not brought gloves or a scarf with her. Only having brought a fashionable faux leather jacket that barely reached her waist and just wasn't designed for warmth. Her teeth started to chatter as she pulled her chestnut red hair out of its tie and she fanned it around her neck, the straight locks reaching her mid-back and she shuddered in a tiny bit of relief.

But the cold was unrelenting and the air started to bite at her nose and cheeks, assaulting her bare legs more than her clothed body, but it was still goddamn cold. "Christ!" Seph's teeth started to chatter, rubbing her legs and arms together, trying to create some warmth.

She jumped when she felt a warm leather jacket being gently slid over her shoulders, the heat instantly welcome, but what if the person that accompanied was a creep? Whipping her head around, looking over her shoulder, she saw a man standing there. He was only in a t-shirt and pants with tan boots. His blonde hair had been parted, blue eyes glinting in the dim light. He was incredibly handsome. He had this gentlemanly air around him, while he also carried himself confidently, strong and intimidating. "Sorry if I startled you, ma'am. You just seemed really cold, it didn't look like that jacket was doing much for you." The stranger hastily explained, his palms out in a placating way, attempting to reassure her.

"Oh," Seph said, pulling the strangers jacket (that was now five times larger than her own body) tighter, reveling in the most welcome tepid jacket, "thank you, Mr. ."

"Rogers. Steve Rogers." Steve stuck out his hand and she shook it, his skin was warm and she felt her arm warm up. "Gosh, you feel _really_ cold." He commented.

Seph nodded, a faint smile curled her lips, "Persephone Brandt. Seph. Well, thanks for offering me your jacket, Captain Rogers." Easily having caught on when he told her his name. Steve chuckled, a grin curving his lips as he sat on the bench next to her

"Museum?"

She made a so-so motion with her hand, "more the fact that you called me ma'am, nearly nobody is that courteous anymore, and my nephew's history project for school played a huge part. We went there about five times." Steve's widened eyes had Seph giggling, "what can I say? He's very thorough, wanted to get every fact right."

"How old is he? Six? Seven?" Steve asked, because from his experience, young children were more inclined to go back to the museum than the older kids were. The older ones didn't appreciate history as much these days. They appreciated their smartphone screens more.

"Try ten, turning eleven on Friday." Seph's smile turned into a loving smirk.

Both of them continued to make small talk and Steve was impressed with the way she wasn't fawning over him like most of the girls he had gone on dates with did, she didn't gush or try to push herself against him in an attempt at seduction. Seph didn't make eyes at him or try to get him to ask her out on a date, or, hell, even ask _him_ out on a date. He was still trying to get used to the forwardness of the female generation these days.

She was content to talking with him, a smile here and there, a slap on her knee as she laughed at a joke he made about the world, her laugh was beautiful, Seph didn't laugh with her throat, it wasn't shallow. She laughed with her belly, he could feel her joy and mirth when she laughed. It made him smile. Talking about the world now made him comment, "the modern world is getting progressively stranger."

"Well, it wouldn't be interesting if there wasn't some weird mixed in with all the normality. Way I see it, the world needs a little weird." Seph said, looking up at the night sky, completely missing the way Steve smiled at her unaware form.

Her phone pinged.

She dug into her hands in the small pockets of her jacket, grabbing her phone and she checked it, the iPhone screen lit up with a notification. Her bus had been cancelled. "Oh, crap." Seph growled, alerting Steve to her frustration.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Yeah, I just found out my bus has been cancelled." Seph sighed, rubbing her forehead, it was obvious that she didn't want her nephew driving at night, but she wouldn't have been able to get home and she didn't have sufficient funds for the cab fare. "Great. Now what?" She mused more to herself than to Steve, but she looked up at him and thanked him profusely before continuing, "you didn't have to sit with me." She rubbed her hands together before cupping them to her mouth and she softly blew warm air on them and she slowly slipped his jacket off her shoulders, handing it back to him. A chill overtook her once more, "here, I'm just gonna have to walk home. Thank you again."

Steve took his jacket, only to redistribute it over her once more, his warm fingers brushed the exposed skin of her neck, making her shiver for a whole different reason. "I don't feel right, leaving a gal all alone at a bus stop in the middle of the night, especially when it's cold. I'll walk with you."

"No, I don't want to inconvenience you." Seph shook her head, trying to stay firm.

"Trust me, you aren't keeping me from anything. I insist." Steve stood, holding his hand out for her.

Seph smiled gently, before taking his hand and she stood with him. He was easily so much taller than her. Her head only reached his pectoral muscles. Despite the jacket which took away all shape in her body, she was facing Steve and he looked at her in the light, since the shadows from the darkness made it hard for him define facial features properly and despite his enhanced eyesight, the streetlights didn't aid him at all. But now that she stood in front of him, he could see her clearly

Persephone wasn't thin, she was curvy in all the right places, her hips pushed out of the black waitress dress she had donned for work, her breasts did the same, though Steve refrained from ogling her. He was merely studying her. Yeah, that was a good word. Study. Seph didn't have a flat stomach, it pushed a little bit out, but she retained her figure, her legs were long and her thighs were thick, like the rest of her.

She was absolutely stunning.

In all the time they had been talking, Steve had been _studying_ her facial features. She had almond shaped eyes that long thick lashes framed pretty light hazel irises, a small, oval face, her nose was straight and strong, her lips full and shaped to perfection, her cheeks were a little full, giving her an innocent appearance, her cheeks and the tip of her nose were red from the cold air, she looked even more adorable, her hair framed her face gently, reaching her mid back.

Again, she was gorgeous.

"Ma'am." Steve held out his arm for her to take. He wasn't going to let her walk unassisted at night.

Seph's cheeks turned pinker, though that might have been from the cold air and she slid her arm through his. "Thank you, Captain Rogers."

"Just call me Steve." He looked down at the beauty on his arm, "I don't need a title."

"Well, no more calling me _'ma'am'_ then. If we're going to be on a first name basis, then call me by my name." Seph said as they started walking.

"Okay, Persephone." Steve smiled. He liked her name.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Seph teased, making him laugh gently.

"I guess not."


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 943**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2:_**

 ** _Hey Stranger!_**

* * *

Seph couldn't stop thinking about Steve.

It was one of those moments when she knew that something could never happen and yet she found herself wondering. During the long journey to her apartment building, he had kept hold of her arm and they both talked and talked for ages.

 _"So, what were you doing at a bus stop? I thought you'd have some fancy car or something." Seph inquired, her freezing fingers curling around his arm, absorbing his warmth a little more._

 _"I have a bike, but it's at the auto shop. It's an old model, so it needs a little maintenance. I was going to catch the bus back but I saw a gal shivering in the cold and dark and well, it just doesn't sit well with me." Steve explained, looking down at to see her biting her bottom lip, hiding a smile._

 _"Thank you," Seph looked up at him sincerely. "It's not every day, a good looking guy hands me his jacket. Even if that guy is Captain America."_

 _Steve chuckled. "Nah, I'm just an average guy. I'm sure guys are linin' up for a dance with you."_

 _"Not as many as you'd think. When I was younger, probably. But, nowadays, I'm man repellent." Seph sighed._

 _"So, you're nobody's girl?"_

 _"Are you offering?" Seph wiggled her eyebrows. At Steve's expression she quickly placated, "kidding! I'm kidding! Don't get your stars all spangled." She joked, making Steve rub a hand over his mouth, hiding a smile._

 _"So really, nobody?"_

 _Seph shook her head, "I've got two full time jobs. I'm raising my only nephew and I've got a mortgage and bills to pay. I'm way too busy for a relationship." Seph, realizing that what she said sounded way too dark to be a normal conversation, she looked up and smiled at him, attempting to shift the conversation to a lighter venue, "and you? Any special girl hanging off your arm?"_

 _"It's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Steve said, glancing to her before looking straight ahead, but something was niggling at what she said, "you're raising your nephew?" Seph nodded, not understanding why he was focusing on that. "Shouldn't your brother or sister be looking after their son?" He looked down again, only to see that her face had become blank, her eyes haunted._

 _"My sister passed away two years ago." Seph answered, her voice dark and guarded. It was obvious she didn't want to speak about it and frankly, she didn't have to. He may be Captain America but he was still human. Living Legend or not, he didn't need to know her life story and the tragedy that ensued. It wasn't his business._

 _Steve knew better than to pry so he didn't. "I'm sorry."_

 _Seph shrugged. "It's been tough, especially on Joey. Not having his mum. I-" She stopped. "Sorry. I don't think I should say anymore. It's- it's still too hard." Seph offered a shaky smile but she turned forward, her speed increasing, causing Steve to widen his stride._

 _"It's alright. I'm sorry." Steve offered, but gained no response from the gorgeous, troubled woman walking next to him._

 _Seph's sculpted dark brows furrowed. What she had kept tight-lipped from everyone, including her nephew for two years, she was about to pour her heart to the war hero who was walking her home. She didn't catch what he said next._

 _"Huh?" She offered, having only slightly heard his voice, her brows lifting from their troubled look into one of surprise and she looked up at Steve, who chuckled. She was deep in thought._

 _"I said I was sorry." Steve said._

 _"Oh! It's okay!" Seph was quick to placate him, her other hand that wasn't linked to his, rubbed his hand, the same electric current running through both of them and even though she tried to let go, she couldn't. Steve didn't even realize that his fingers had wrapped around hers._

 _They continued to walk until she stopped, looking up at her building. "Wow, you live pretty far from the bus stop."_

 _"Yeah, both of my jobs are pretty far from where I work. But I have to sacrifice to make a living. Hopefully, some day, I won't have to live far from home and be away from Joey as much. I can work closer and earn twice the amount."_

 _Steve smiled at her ambitiousness. "I see that you work at the restaurant. But what about this second job?" He lingered, genuinely curious._

 _Seph smiled, she didn't want him to leave just yet, she was actually. . . enjoying herself for once. "Poppy's Diner. Until noon and then I go home, change quickly and then I'm off to Reserve. Seven days a week. Both places actually serve really great food." Seph said, hopeful that he might show up one of those seven days and she slipped off his jacket, handing it back to Steve. "Goodnight, Steve and thank you." She started for the door, "oh!" She alerted Steve and he turned, midway through pulling his jacket back on. "It'd make me feel better if you got home safe too." She took out her pad and pen and quickly scribbled, ripping the sheet of paper from the pad, she handed it to Steve. "Text me."_

 _Steve accepted the paper and he grinned, acknowledging it. "I'll make sure to let you know." He shrugged his jacket on._

 _"Don't forget!" Seph pointed at him, before pulling out her keys and walking inside the apartment building, going up the staircase._

(..)

She did a get a text that night, but she hadn't gotten anything else over the next week.

Seph sighed, rubbing down the counter of Poppy's.

Yesterday had been Friday and she had prepared a more than tolerable birthday for Joey. She even got a smile from him when he opened her present and saw that it was a limited edition 1944 Captain America comic, penned and drawn by Steve Rogers himself. She had gone through hell and back to get it for him and she knew he loved it.

Today, Joey had gone to a friend's house, leaving only a note by her bedside table that read, _'Be back soon, don't worry. -Joey :)'_

"Hey, sexy!" The sleazeball regular walked in Poppy's, making her jaw clench.

"I don't speak to people who don't call me by my name." Seph sang, ready to break the glass ketchup bottle over his head.

"Well, you did just speak to me, but that's not the point. I'm actually wondering what you look like under that dress. Wanna give me a sneak preview?" Kyle said, a smarmy grin curving his too large lips as she rolled her eyes. He sat down on the customer side of the island.

Starting down, she murmured to herself, "Lord give me strength not to bash him with a frying pan." Seph sighed, cleaning the marble top before walking back, dreading it already.

"So, babe, when are we going back to my place? I know you won't be able to resist me for long." Kyle asked, trying to grab her hand.

Smacking his away, she answered plainly, "when I grow a third leg and my brain shrinks to the size of a pea." Kyle looked confused, so she liberated him, "well, I can only kick one leg at a time if I have two, so the third one is for you and my brain would _have_ to be a pea if I ever even _considered_ going out with a man whore like you." Seph's smile was sickly sweet, it was just too sweet to be real.

Jason, the head of the wait staff chuckled, looking at Kyle. "Give it up, bro. She's not interested." Jason was about the same age as Seph, with dark ginger short hair, pale skin and a light smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose. He was tall and muscular, good looking and engaged to a wonderful Italian boy; Vincent.

Seph smiled at him thankfully, opening the small push door and she walked through, before hearing the front door jingle, but when she went to look up to greet whoever it was; Kyle turned and smacked her ass. "Every girl is interested in Kyle." He referred to himself in the third person.

All the regular patrons in the entire diner knew to _never_ touch any part of Persephone without her express permission, unless they were a friend.

It was suddenly quiet.

Kyle grinned, turning back to the table, so Seph looked to Jason who gestured his hand for her to go for it. Seph grabbed Kyle by the shoulder, turning him to face her and she reared her left hand back and letting it snap quickly, pushing all of her weight and power into that one blow; sending the asshole right over the island. "Touch my ass again and I'll throw you out the window." Seph warned as Jason pulled Kyle up by his collar, his crooked nose now even more crooked, with blood spurting out from his nostrils as he whimpered, being roughly escorted out.

All the regulars cheered while they new customers looked on in fright and appreciation.

As everyone went back to their food, now having been fed their daily dose of action, Seph heard a familiar voice near the doorway."Well, I thought I was going to have to step in and defend your honor, but I liked how you handled it." The fiery redhead turned to see a smiling Steve Rogers, his large frame encased in the same brown leather jacket with a white tee and a pair of brown jeans with a different pair of black boots.

"Steve!" Seph called, walking to him, the clear excitement on her face was enough to make him smile, but then her cheeks turned pink and she slowed down, nodding as she tried to look nonchalant. "'Sup?" She asked, her cheeks still tinted.

Steve chuckled, she was obviously trying to play it off. _'A bit too late.'_ He thought. "Well, I met a beautiful lady last week who recommended this place and one other; and I thought, _'why not?_ _Maybe I'll see her again.'_ " Seph's cheeks tint turned into a paint as she looked up at him. He silently thanked Nat for telling him to go for it.

"Want something to eat? All that flirting must have made you hungry." Seph's smile turned crooked and her eyes glittered with mischief as he let out a huff, playing along with her as he patted his stomach.

"You certainly know the way to a man's heart."

"Straight through his stomach." Seph lead him to the front of the diner and he sat down on the chair attached to the long island and she handed him a menu.

"What would you recommend?" Steve asked, looking up from the seemingly endless options.

"Well, it depends, if you want something light or something heavy."

"Definitely something light, but isn't that just like soup or something?" Steve questioned, making Seph giggle as she took the menu from him and flipped to the salad list. "Apart from soup, you could have the chicken Caesar salad, that's really good." She offered, looking up at him, a bit surprised to see that he was watching her.

"Then that's what I'll have." Steve's eyes never left hers as she nodded, turning back as she cleared her throat.

Her entire body tingled with the feeling that he was _watching her walk away._ "Oh, sweet baby Jesus." Seph whispered to herself and tried very hard not to sway her hips just to tease him.

Steve grinned as she walked back to the kitchen. After a few minutes of waiting, he replayed the punch in his mind. She was definitely strong and she knew how to deliver it powerfully and swift in a cramped situation, her entire body seemed to do the work for her instead of her brain. Persephone Brandt was not the fragile, defenseless woman he had initially thought, and he rather liked that. He also noted that she didn't call for help or look to anyone else to help; she dealt with the problem herself. She wasn't a damsel in distress, looking for her knight in shining armor. She was a fighter looking for a kindred spirit, who would let her be herself and have the same freedom.

Seph came back with the plate of chicken Caesar salad and set it in front of him, her cheeks still flushed even though she was shivering. "Anything to drink?" Seph hoped he didn't notice her shaking, she had to step into the meat freezer to cool off otherwise she was going to experience spontaneously combustion right in front of Captain America. She even stuck a piece of chilled packaged chicken fillets to her forehead for good measure.

"Just some water, please."

Seph nodded, grabbing a glass and a pitcher of cold water, before setting the full glass beside his plate.

"Thank you." Steve nodded at her to which she reciprocated before patting his hand and walking with her pad and pencil in hand to an elderly couple and she spoke to them animatedly, before taking their order and putting it on the bar to be prepared, doing her rounds before she came back to Steve, who had finished his food.

"Did you enjoy it?" Seph asked, taking his plate and just without really meaning to, she refilled his glass of water.

"My source has good taste in food." Steve quipped, making Seph chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad your _source_ pointed you here." Seph leaned in, her elbows resting on the counter as she looked at him, their faces closer.

"Are you?" One dark blonde brow raised, he was obviously enjoying himself.

"I thought my hints fell on deaf ears. Either that, or you just weren't interested; because I never got a text back." Seph poked the hard muscle of Steve's chest. God, now she was wishing she had just tapped him with her hand instead of her finger.

"I'm sorry. I had some work to attend to and I didn't have my phone with me. I got your text when I came back." Steve looked genuinely sheepish as he gazed up at her.

"I don't think Captain America would lie, so I'll just have to take your word for it." Seph wiped the counter-top before looking back at him, "at least you made it home alright."

Steve chuckled at her amused expression and she set the towel near the coffee maker behind her and checked her watch before looking back at him. The super soldier stood and quickly fixed his jacket, intending on leaving the establishment and chickening out of what he has wanted to ask for at least a week, before looking at her shyly, "Er, Persephone,"

"Mmm?" She hummed, smiling at the way he called her by her full name. She liked the way it rolled off his tongue. It just sounded so _good_ when he said it.

"Would you like to- umm- do you- err- would you be willing-"

"Jesus, ask me out already!" Seph laughed, grabbing his hand to stop his stammering.

With all his modern flirtatiousness, he was still just a bumbling kid from Brooklyn, especially when it came to Seph, who was a gorgeous dame. "Wouldyouliketogooutonadatewithme?" The words flew out of Steve's mouth like bullets from a machine gun and her eyebrows lifted in surprise at his quick words. Her astonished expression turned into one of beguilement.

"I would be honored to go on a date with you, Steve." Seph grinned, before looking to the side and back to him. "Once I call Reserve and tell them I can't come in on whatever day we decide."

"Saturday?" Steve offered. He wasn't going to be busy on this particular weekend.

"Saturday it is." Seph smiled, "Pick me up at 6:30. You remember where I live, yeah?" Seph asked, writing her address down for him.

"It was pretty dark out when I walked you home, I remember the building." Steve suggested as she nodded and handed him the piece of paper with her neat and cursive writing on it, spelling out her residence and her apartment number. "Thank you." He said, smiling at her.

"See you on Saturday, Captain." Seph raised one eyebrow, her eyes smoldering as she watched him leave as he looked back at her, his eyes were a deep electric blue and his lips curved into a sinful smirk before he left.

Persephone Brandt had a date with Captain Steve Rogers.

* * *

 _ **Hey guys!**_

 ** _Well, now we know a little bit about Seph's personality and Steve's thoughts on her! I know this is moving a bit fast, but I just wanted to set everything up for the main plot!_**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, make sure to keep an eye on this story so you can read the next one! Reviews are always welcome!_**

 ** _~Munsurieya_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 888**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 3:_**

 ** _Iron Involvement._**

* * *

Steve looked over the list he had made.

It was different than all the things he wrote down that he had to catch up on in the little red pocketbook he had. Instead, this list was on an A4 piece of paper, with small little drawings all over it.

So far, all he had written down was:

 _ **POTENTIAL SPOTS FOR DATE ON SATURDAY, 6:30:**_

 _ **1\. MOVIE THEATER (CHECK INTERNET FOR POTENTIAL MOVIE)**_

 _ **2\. COFFEE DATE (TOO CASUAL?)**_

 _ **3\. LUNCH DATE (AGAIN TOO CASUAL?)**_

 _ **4\. DINNER DATE (TOO FORMAL?)**_

 _ **5\. DANCING (STILL DON'T KNOW HOW TO DANCE)**_

 _ **6\. CARNIVAL IN TOWN (TOO OLD FOR THAT SORT OF THING?)**_

 _ **7\. BRUNCH?**_

 _ **8\. ? ? ?**_

God, he didn't know what to do!

Discarding the paper, he turned back to his sketchbook, looking at the drawing of Persephone he had just completed. She was sitting on the cold metal bench of the bus-stop just as she was before, the dim light creating a mass of mid, light and dark shadows that brought realism to her. She was in the dress he had first met her in, her face positioned up toward the sky, a gentle smile curving her full lips as her sketched eyes glittered as the stared at the stars. She was presented in the sketch as he was watching her from her side, her hair tumbling down her back and lay perfectly against the leather jacket that he drew over her shoulders. Her hands poised just over the jacket to simulate that she was creating friction to keep warm and a soft smattering of what seemed to be smoke coming from her lips, but it was just steam from her hot breath meeting the cold air.

Picking it up, he looked at the drawing and smiled. Even in his drawings, she brought life to it. She was breathtaking.

He just didn't expect a hand to come in his view and snatch the sketchbook as well as the A4 list he had compiled.

"Hey!" Steve boomed, standing and turning around, but sighed, watching Tony look at the list before turning his attention to the drawing of Seph.

"Easy, Cap. You are using the stationary I purchased, therefore I have every right to see what you have drawn on my property."

"Tony, just give me back my things." Steve ordered calmly, though if Tony didn't cooperate, then JARVIS would have to call a cleaning crew and maybe a medic.

"Who's the girl?" Tony asked, ignoring Steve and he observed the obvious attention to detail. Every line of her face and hand, skin simulation and every individual hair. It was like the unnamed woman was alive on the page. "You're pretty good, Rogers." He tossed the sketchbook back to his older friend.

"Thank you." Steve dodged Tony's question, closing the sketchbook.

"Hmm. Coffee date, dancing, c-" Tony stopped and looked at Steve with his famous ' _r_ _eally?'_ look. "Carnival? Cap, have you ever even _seen_ a date?" Tony taunted before handing the list back.

"I'm looking at all my options. I want to think of them all before I make a decision, see which one Persephone likes the most." Steve's eyes closed and his facial expression took on one of pain as

"A-ha! So her name is Persephone, huh?" Tony taunted, making Steve rest his head on his hands. His elbows banged on the table, making the entire thing shake. "It's about time you went out with someone, Cap. And you picked a damn beautiful girl to go out with." Tony patted Steve's back, "a girl values spontaneity. If you talk to her about it and plan it every step of the way, she's just gonna go with the motions and be a bore. She needs to be surprised about where you're going, what you're going to do and on how you treat her."

Steve looked at him, "that sounds like a lot of work."

Tony rolled his eyes, "of course it is, old timer. Because it's the first damn _date_. Make an impression. How long have you known this girl?"

"Literally: a week and a bit, but we've only met twice." Steve shrugged.

"And how did you meet both times?"

"The first time we met, she was shivering at the bus stop, she was waiting for her transportation, so I lent her my jacket and kept her company. We spoke for a bit, she found out her bus cancelled so I walked her home."

Tony nodded, "second time?"

"She had told me where she worked, so I went to her day job to surprise her and she. . . punched a jerk right in the face, sent him over the island counter." Steve had a smile on his face as he thought of that moment. It proved to him that she wasn't just a pretty face or a damsel in distress.

Tony's eyes softened before he looked at the sketch and it was obvious that Steve had memorized every single angle and line of Persephone's face, just he had memorized Pepper's.

Cap had found the real deal.

"Okay, Cap. I'm going to give you the crash course of dating in the modern world, so put on your specs and I'll educate you in: _First Date Physics 101_."

(..)

By the end of _First Date Physics 101_ , Steve and Tony had adjourned to the lab where Cap was sitting in Tony's not so favourite wheelie chair and had written notes down furiously while Tony stood in front of him with the holographic slideshow playing in front of him with a steel pointer. "You get it, now?"

"So, don't write a list of potential date spots." Steve concluded.

"Exactly." Tony said, retracting the pointer and throwing it away carelessly. "Okay, JARVIS, you can take the slideshow down."

 _"Certainly, sir."_ The slideshow disappeared and Tony sat opposite Steve.

"Now, as far as first date's go, you need to make a good impression, especially if you've known her for at least a week. Take her to dinner and after, take her to a club and well, if you want, _'do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight,'_ " Tony grinned, hoping sincerely that Steve didn't catch the reference.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "what?" He asked Tony, looking up at genius.

Tony inwardly applauded himself, "it's a reference to a song. Maybe Persephone can show you what it is."

"Maybe." Steve mused, thinking of Tony's suggestion to treat her to a meal before taking her out dancing. "I think I like your idea, of taking Persephone out to dinner before taking her dancing."

"Of course you like it, I came up with it." Tony casually said, "I'll make the arrangements; you text her to wear something she can dance in. Something casual, it's not going to be a high-class expensive club or restaurant, because let's face it, it won't be exactly pleasant for you, especially if you don't know what to do. Whole date is ruined." Tony rambled.

Steve's eyebrows lifted in surprise at Tony's forward thinking and his genuine care. "Thank you, Tony."

"You deserve a win, Cap. You out of all of us." Tony stated simply, walking away. "Remember, text her and when you see her, use that reference. She'll love it. All women do."

Steve nodded, pulling out his phone to text Persephone.

Now, how to word it.

(..)

Seph fell down on the couch, sighing after another arduous shift at Reserve.

It was about 11:30.

Kelly, their kitchen-hand was off sick, so Seph took her shift also. In return, she got Saturday free.

The lamp turned on and Seph's head snapped up to see her nephew Joey. He looked a lot like his father. Dark brown hair that reached the nape of his neck and fell around his head like a mop, his eyes were a beautiful indigo blue, but he was pale like Barbara. He also had her calm, compassionate nature, but he was also incredibly fierce and protective of his family.

He was skinny and he was incredibly youthful, long dark lashes framed his beautiful eyes as he looked at his aunt. "Hey," he said.

"Hey, Joey. I thought you'd be in bed." Seph said, maneuvering herself in a sitting position as she looked up at him sleepily.

"You weren't home at your usual time, so I stayed up until you did." Joey simply nodded toward her, not meeting her eyes before he went back in his room without another word. Seph sighed, rubbing her forehead before standing and slowly shuffled to her room, heading into the en-suite bathroom, having a hot shower.

She threw her work dress into the hamper along with her undergarments, her makeup removed and her blow-dried hair piled in a messy bun atop her head.

Her phone pinged.

Seph turned to see her lit phone screen in the center of her queen-sized bed. Grabbing it from the bed, she saw an unread text message, swiping over it so the unlock screen disappeared and the message was in full view.

 _'Persephone, I've figured out what to do for our date. Wear something sexy and easy to dance in and then easier take off at the end of the night. Steve ;)'_

Her dark brows knitted together, she didn't know Steve that well, but she was pretty sure that he wouldn't be acting that lewd already, or possibly ever.

 ** _'Steve?'_**

Her phone pinged instantaneously.

 _'Yes, sorry about that. Tony took my phone and sent the above message. I am so sorry, I hope it didn't cause any discomfort.'_

Now _that_ was more like Steve.

Of course, now, Seph's imagining Steve in her room. . .on her bed. . .holding her to him. . . _Jesus._

 ** _'Oh no! Not at all! I just got a little confused. I thought it didn't seem like you. But if Mr. Stark knows about our date, I'm guessing you came up with something for us?'_**

 _'Well, Tony helped out mainly. He said my ideas needed to be more creative. I had some hand in our date, don't worry.'_

 ** _'Okay then, so, I'm guessing I should be wearing something I'm comfortable in, yes?'_**

 _'Yes, comfort is key. Or so I've been told.'_

 ** _'We are still on for Saturday 6:30, right?'_**

 _'Yes. I will pick you up. You might want to wear something more fitting for a motorcycle instead of a car. That's the only mode of transport I have.'_

 ** _'Motorbike it is. See you Saturday, Captain.'_**

 _'Until then, Miss. Brandt.'_

Persephone's massive grin stayed on her face as she pulled on her undergarments, slipped on her comfiest pajamas and got into bed, falling asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

 _ **Just a little fluff episode with Tony! The next chapter will get into the plot.**_

 _ **Thank you for following this story!**_

 ** _~Munsurieya_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 820**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 4:_**

 ** _First Date._**

* * *

Seph put the car in park as she looked to Joey, who was cradling his vintage Captain America comic.

"Okay, now, be good and I'll come back to pick you up when the date ends, okay?" Seph said, watching him sternly.

"I know, Aunt Seph. Have a good time with Captain America." Joey mumbled, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Hey, kiddo," she placated him, hesitantly placing a hand on his head and she felt him stiffen at her foreign touch, "after school, come by Poppy's, I'll arrange a little meeting. If this date goes well, 'kay?" Her voice was soft, just like it used to be, two years ago. Before everything went to hell.

"O-okay." Joey murmured and she patted his hair, before pulling her hand back.

"Tell Joanna I said 'hi'." Seph looked on as Joey slipped out of the car, waving a hand behind him as his farewell as he approached his friend's house.

Seph sighed, rubbing her forehead before starting the car and she drove back to the apartment to get ready. It was 5:00 now.

(..)

6:30 eventually rolled around and she was sitting on her couch, ramrod straight.

Seph clutched at her bag, biting her berry red lip. She was wearing black tights that were faux leather with black high-heeled ankle boots with a gold zip on either side, with a white long sleeved shirt, the neckline dipped to show her impressive cleavage and as the large gold belt cinched around her waist, the hem flared out, barely touching her hips as she clutched at her white cashmere double breasted jacket. Barbara had bought it for her as a Christmas present.

 _Knock, knock._

Seph turned her head to look at the door, taking a deep breath. She stood and walked toward the door and she slowly opened it.

Steve was there in glossy black shoes, black slacks, a deep blue button-down shirt and a black suit jacket, holding a single lavender rose. "I thought you might like simplicity over grandeur." He said, looking at her with warm eyes.

Seph's anxious expression turned into a breathtaking smile. "Thank you, Steve. And you're very right." She took the rose and sniffed it softly, before she looked up at him and his answering smile was blinding, "oh, please come in and I'll just grab a vase." Seph opened the door for him and closed it behind him before walking to the kitchen to hunt down a vase while Steve looked around her two bedroom apartment.

"You have a nice place." Steve complimented and he heard her thanks before he decided to look around the apartment. It was warm, not too small where it was cramped but not too big so it felt lonely even though there were two people living in the same space. Her colour scheme was white with taupe with bold colours splashed around the apartment.

He bent down to look at one of the decorative tables that was littered with photo frames and he smiled to see a young Persephone with her arm around a carbon copy of her. Her twin. Persephone's twin looked like her so much that is near impossible to tell them apart.

But Steve could.

The slight crooked shape of her twin's mouth when she smiled and how her hair was three shades darker with less red, it becoming more chestnut instead of auburn. It also was a clear indicator that the twin was different than Seph, by her body shape. Seph was curvy even when she was younger, though skinnier, but her twin was lean, athletic. Also, her eyes were an indigo blue. Not hazel.

Their cheeks were pressed together as they smiled broadly at the camera, their eyes alight with love and affection for each other.

"That's Barbara. My sister." Steve jumped and turned to see Seph looking at him with a sad smile on her face. He didn't even hear her come back.

She was holding the dainty vase and she set it down on the glass coffee table, before looking back to him. "You didn't tell me she was your twin."

"You never asked." Seph countered, walking toward him and she took the picture from its place and she sighed. "We were inseparable. I used to call her Babs. And if I really wanted to piss her off, I'd call her Barbie." Seph chuckled at the distant memory. "My Mum took the photo that day, we were sixteen and at a coffee shop. It was winter, see?" Seph pointed to the knitted beanies and the matching scarves. Seph was wearing white while Barbara was wearing yellow. Their red-tipped noses and red cheeks were identical as snow fell around them.

"You look so happy." Steve commented, placing a hand on her shoulder and she leaned into him.

"I was. We were just being silly and having some fun." Seph smiled reminiscently before setting the frame down and she looked up at him. "Ready?"

Steve nodded and grabbed her jacket from the chair as she took her bag and Steve helped her into her jacket and she did it up. "Ma'am." Steve held his hand for her and she took it, smiling.

"Why thank you, Mr. Rogers." Seph played along as they walked out of her apartment and she locked the door, before they went downstairs to see his motorcycle parked outside. "Okay, I should warn you, I find men who ride motorcycles to be insanely attractive." Seph waggled her eyebrows playfully as she followed Steve and mounted the bike behind him.

"I'm winning points already." Steve grinned as the bike roared to life and slowly peeled out from his parking spot, before setting course on the road.

Seph wrapped her arms around his middle, setting her hands flat against his chest and she could feel his muscles underneath the shirt. "You're winning more right now." She whispered in his ear, making her date shiver in response.

Steve picked up the pace, making her squeal and laugh delightedly and they raced down the road toward their destination.

(..)

Half a block away, Steve slowed down and told Seph to close her eyes for the surprise.

Seph, who was delighted, obeyed and kept her eyes shut for the duration of the ride, before the engine died and he helped her off the bike, making her smile and he gently slid his hand over her eyes. "No peeking."

"I would never." Seph poorly executed the seemingly offended line, before she burst into giggles and they walked into wherever they were, since Seph couldn't see.

She heard the ding of an elevator, but it was quite where they were and they entered and Steve must have pushed the floor number, because the elevators door shut and she felt the pull of the box lifting them up.

It was then it became noticeable that there was soft jazz music playing as they started to reach higher in the building and she smiled.

"I thought this was going to be a simple date." Seph quipped and the elevator dinged once more and the doors opened.

"I said you like simplicity over grandeur," Steve reiterated as he slowly removed his hand and she opened her eyes, "but that doesn't mean I can't indulge you." He finished as she took in the scene before her.

She was in the Avengers tower, looking around with wide eyes as a small round table with a white satin sheet draped over with their first course set out, kept warm by silver plate warmer with a candle in the middle of the table with their forks and knives set out and their glasses as the large room was dimmed, the lights turned just enough so she could make out nearly everything but it was still romantic. The floor to ceiling windows showed the city underneath, twinkling.

The soft jazz music played gently in the background, but there was no stereo that she could see.

"Oh, Steve. ." Seph whispered, a hand to her mouth. "This is. ."

"Too much?" Steve asked, suddenly looking nervous. "I told Stark that this was too much. I-"

"No." Seph said, grabbing his hand, before she turned to look at him, a broad smile on her face, "it's wonderful. Simple and elegant." Steve's worried expression melted and he smiled in relief.

"Thank God." He helped her out of her jacket and they walked to their table before he hung her jacket over the side and he pulled the chair back for her to sit.

"Thank you." Seph took her seat and he helped her in before he took his own seat and a hand came into view and took the silver plate warmer and she looked up to see a young man taking both warmers and he smiled.

"Hello, my name is George and I will be your waiter for this evening. Your entree is cheese ravioli with a pumpkin sage sauce. And in the ravioli is fresh chicken. And for beverages, Mr. Stark has selected the Verdicchio, if you would like to change anything, please just ask." George was kind.

He had brown curly hair that fell to his collarbone and impressive caramel brown eyes. He was young, maybe nineteen with dimples when he smiled.

His girlfriend or boyfriend was very lucky.

"I think I'm happy with the choices, George, thank you." Seph grinned broadly up at the waiter and Steve softly smiled in return to the waiter.

"I'm happy too. Thanks, George."

"Enjoy your first course." George parted with that.

Seph speared a ravioli piece onto her fork and she took a tentative bite out of it, before her eyes closed. The flavors burst in her mouth like fireworks. "Mmm, this is so good!" Steve nodded, watching her as he also ate, even though his stomach was rumbling and begging him to shovel faster.

His mother taught him to be a gentleman in front of a lady.

Steve lifted his glass of Verdicchio to her, "to. ." he found himself stuck

"To live in the moment." She raised her glass, her voice soft as she looked at him with a serene expression on her face.

"To live in the moment." Steve echoed as they clinked their glasses and took a sip from the wine.

A sip for Seph turned into a gulp and a gulp turned into the entire glass gone, Steve just watching her as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

"Oh God, I'm sorry. I could never really savor my wine."

Steve chuckled before drinking the rest of his, "now we're even."

Seph giggled as they ate and continued to talk.

(..)

George came out with their main course. "Tomato and caper linguine." He announced, refilling their glasses before taking his leave to help the chef with the dessert.

"We're going for a pasta theme today." Seph grinned, not complaining since she loved pasta.

"I hope you don't mind. I thought you might like it." Steve blushed gently.

"I love it, thank you. Pasta is one of my favourite dishes of all time. Any pasta is my favourite." Seph moaned as she ate the linguine with the same look of bliss.

Steve found it incredibly arousing, even though he would never state that out loud.

She was something else.

(..)

Seph had gone to the bathroom to freshen up, so Steve took the opening and quickly stood, abandoning their empty plates and he stood in the middle of the room, which Tony had converted it into a dance floor just for the two of them. "JARVIS?" Steve asked, politely.

" _Yes, Captain?"_ JARVIS was quick to respond like always.

"When Persephone walks into the room, can you play that song I requested?"

" _Certainly, Captain Rogers."_ JARVIS' disembodied voice filled the room before it was left empty. The only sound was the nervous tapping of Steve's foot and the soft jazz music playing in the background on a loop.

Suddenly, _Fever_ by Michael Buble started to play as Seph reentered the room, her lips curving into a seductive little grin as she mimed the words.

" _Never know how much I love you  
Never know how much I care  
When you put your arms around me  
I get a fever that's so hard to bear - you give me fever."_

Steve held out his hand for her, a nervous smile on his face. "May I have this dance, Miss. Brandt?" His voice shook slightly.

Seph nodded, walking toward him as her hand slid into his, "yes you may, Captain."

"Now you may have to bear with me. I don't really know how to dance." Steve revealed, one of his hands on the middle of her back and the other holding her hand out and she beamed.

"Lead the way, Steve."

They slowly started to sway to the music as they looked into each other's eyes. Hazel on blue.

" _When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight."_

Steve had been fearing that he was going to step on her toes or stumble into her, but that wasn't the case.

They were familiar with each other, every step was smooth and perfect just as perfect as they were in sync with the beat of the song.

They were made for each other.

As he became more confident in his dancing skills, Steve was a lot more bold than at first.

 _"Fever - in the morning, fever all through the night  
Sun lights up the daytime, moon lights up the night  
I light up when you call my name, and you know I'm gonna treat you right."_

Steve's hands slowly traveled to her hips as Seph's slid to his shoulders as she pressed closer against him, fearing that he'd pull away, but found that he was more than okay with it. Steve grinned cockily before spinning her away from him and she giggled, following his lead before he twirled her back in his arms.

Now she was facing away from him, her back pressed against his chest as his head dipped and nuzzled her neck, his hands sliding around her waist.

 _"You give me fever - when you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight  
_ _Fever - in the morning, fever all through the night."_

Seph felt his lips press against the dip where her shoulder meets her neck and she bit her lip gently.

 _"Everybody's got the fever, that is something you all know."_ Seph sang along with Buble

 _"Fever isn't such a new thing, fever started long ago.  
Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same  
When he put his arms around her, __he said 'Julie baby, you're my flame'  
Thou givest fever, when we kisseth, fever with thy flaming youth." _

Steve whirled Seph back to face him as his hand slid down to her thigh and hitched it over his thigh. _"Fever - I'm afire, fever yea I burn forsooth."_ As the instrumental started, Seph and Steve whirled around the dance floor, never leaving each other's arms.

 _"Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair  
_ _When her Daddy tried to kill him, she said 'Daddy-O don't you dare'  
He gives me fever - with his kisses, fever when he holds me tight  
Fever - I'm his Missus, Oh Daddy won't you treat him right!" _

Seph laughed sensually as she turned around so her back pressed against Steve and she added a little modern to the classic. Her hands slid over his hips and as her own hips swayed tantalizingly, her entire body rubbed against him as she went lower and lower. She crouched until her head was just at his belt, her smoldering eyes never leaving his.

Steve couldn't take it and grabbed her hands, pulling her up and he tugged her to him, making her whirl once more before he dipped her low just as the song started to end.

 _"Now you've listened to my story, here's the point I have made:  
Chicks were born to give you fever, be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade  
They give you fever - when you kiss them, fever if you live and learn  
Fever - till you sizzle, what a lovely way to burn." _

Steve looked down at Seph, their smiles slipped off their faces as they leaned in slowly.

 _"What a lovely way to burn."_

Their lips were just inches apart, their breath mingled and Seph closed her eyes in anticipation.

 _"What a lovely way to burn."_

Someone smashed through the window, guns blazing.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 3, 191**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 5:_**

 ** _The Plot Thickens_**

* * *

"Get behind me!" Steve ordered as he whirled Seph behind his back, eyeing the unidentifiable intruder who pulled out two dual 9mm Para Ordnance pistols from their holsters with attached silencers and open-fired at the couple.

Seph didn't have a chance to even react before Steve dodged the rapid fire, grabbing her by the waist and he vaulted himself over the small railing and they fell down. Seph gasped as Steve maneuvered himself and held her close, landing lightly on his feet, before he hid them just where the invader couldn't see them and he looked down at her.

She was scared. Seph's eyes were wide, but there was no tears, no blubbering and no begging him to take her home and to never contact her again. Instead, she _was_ clutching at him, her breathing was a little erratic, but she was looking up at him, trusting him with her life.

Steve took a deep breath and held her close, whispering in her ear. "I'm going to go out there and distract them," he announced and he felt her hands tighten around his middle, "JARVIS is Tony's AI. He's probably alerted Tony and the others. I _just_ need to keep the attacker busy until they arrive. I'm not going to let them hurt you, Seph." Steve vowed, but when he went to move, Seph didn't let go.

"That person isn't going to stop. They're going to keep shooting, they've got a military grade fully automatic firearm on their back, Steve." Seph warned, touching his cheek.

"I'll stop them." Steve said, confident in his abilities, before he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and took off, leaving her behind.

She heard the shots increasing before pressing her back harder against the wall, her hands shaking as she also heard a few bullets making impact with the walls and a few windows, but she didn't know who was winning. It was then one single shot rang out and Seph held her breath when she heard Steve grunt in pain.

Seph took a deep breath and steeled her resolve and took a step forward, but the she heard a British disembodied voice close to her speak, _"Miss. Brandt, I would advise against participating in this fight, but I feel as if I should tell you that Captain Rogers' shield is back on the second floor, near the couches. I have alerted Mr. Stark to return as quickly as possible."_

"Um, thank you." Seph whispered. _That_ must be JARVIS.

 _"You're welcome."_ JARVIS replied as Seph stealthily moved from her hiding spot and she slowly crept to the stairs, crawling up them just to see Steve clutching at his side, which was bloody and he was combating the attacker one-handed and doing a pretty damn good job.

The enemy threw the pistols away, since they didn't seem to stop Steve and pulled out a knife and started strategically swinging it, cutting Steve in multiple places and the super soldier grunted when he was kicked in the stomach, stumbling backwards before he was brutally kicked in the side as he groaned, falling to the floor as the assailant kicked again and again.

Seph looked toward the couches pushed a little further away to create space for their dance floor and she saw Steve's shield resting on one of the cushions.

He _needed_ her.

She took her chance and bolted for the couches, gaining the attention of both the assailant and Steve. The intruder moved away from Steve, who was struggling to get up and ripped the automatic weapon from the holster on his back and started haphazardly rapidly firing at Seph.

" _PERSEPHONE!"_ Steve called, his heart racing as he watched her run right into danger, punching the floor in frustration, the solid wood cracking from the blow as his body tried to quit on him.

Narrowly avoiding the bullets, she leaped over the couch, grabbing the shield and landed on her knees. She raised the shield in front of her, protecting herself as she felt the vibrations of the bullets hitting the shield but not making any contact.

Seph heard the gun clicking and the magazine dropped to floor.

Now was her chance!

The small five-foot three woman stood and with all the strength and weight she could muster, threw the shield toward Steve but it turned and it flung straight into the attacker's chest, making them fly back. The shield boomeranged back to her and she ducked in shock, it hitting the wall and it fell to the ground. The automatic firearm flew over the railing and to the first floor.

The assailant instantly regained their footing, groaning before they grabbed the discarded pistol next to them on the floor and pointed it to Seph. "Persephone Lucille Brandt. Born: 25th of January, 1986. Age: 28. Species: Mutant." The attacker said with a modified deep voice.

"Wait, _what?"_ Seph asked. She was human! "I'm human!"

"Status: deceased." The attacker ignored her and cocked the hammer back.

Seph's eyes widened, looking into the barrel of the gun.

She was going to die.

Visions of the invasion flew past her mind's eye and for one cruel moment, she was watching her sister fall to her knees.

A blast was heard, shaking her out of her reverie and watched, stunned as the assailant flew back into the railing, unconscious.

Both Seph and Steve looked toward the smashed window, to see Iron Man with one hand raised, having used his repulsor blast to knock the person out. He flew into the gaping window and he set himself down and the helmet opened to show Tony Stark watching the assailant carefully, as if they might be playing possum.

Seph took that moment to race to Steve, kneeling down beside him. The shards of glass cut into her knees but she didn't care. "Are you alright? What were you thinking?!" She berated him, hitting his arm.

"Sorry, didn't think I'd get shot. I guess I lost my head a little bit." Steve apologized, making Seph chuckle. "What?" He asked, smiling at her chuckle.

"You've been shot and now you're apologizing for it." Seph touched his sweaty cheek.

Steve watched her gently before his eyes turned toward the assailant, where Tony was still standing sentry. "They were after you. Whatever they wanted, they'll be going after everyone you know." Steve grounded out as he slowly got to his feet.

"Joey!" Seph whispered and she looked at Steve helplessly. "We need to get Joey!" Seph scrambled to her feet, running for the elevator when Tony quickly stood in her way, gripping her arms.

"Your nephew?" Steve asked, his eyes widening as he looked to Tony.

"JARVIS' protocols would have alerted someone from the team to pick up anyone he would believe to be in danger. That means someone is already getting your nephew." Tony explained, looking at Seph in the eyes calmly. "Don't worry."

Seph bit her lip but nodded, still looking incredibly worried as Steve leaned against the pillar to catch his breath before sighing as he slowly walked toward the attacker and ripped off the helmet, revealing a bloody and beat up man underneath.

"I want to know why he called you a mutant." Tony interjected, looking at Seph, obviously interested since he was in the presence of a mutant.

Seph looked bewildered, "I don't know. I'm _not_ a mutant. I'm just. . normal. I've never even exhibited any kind of out of the ordinary experiences that would give me that impression." Seph looked at Tony square in his eyes, never wavering.

JARVIS answered Tony's silent judgement for his ears only, _"Miss. Brand'ts heartbeat is steady and her pupils are not dilating. There is no reason to believe that she is lying."_

"Any reason why he _might_ suspect that you would be?" Steve asked, worried about her.

Seph nodded. "My cousin, Bobby."

"I thought it was just you and your nephew." Steve said.

"Yes. It's just us. My mother's side of the family didn't like my father so I only really knew them from just family events and birthday parties. Bobby is my first cousin and while I'm not super close with him, I _do_ know _he_ _is_ a mutant." Seph said. "I'll try to contact him, if it helps."

"I think it would." Steve said, "if any of your family members is a mutant, then they should also be informed." Steve said and Seph nodded, going the overturned table, finding her back thrown a few feet away and she picked it up, watching as Steve and Tony talk. The scratches all over Steve had already scabbed over and were starting to disappear while he wasn't holding his side anymore, which led Seph to believe that it was flesh wound and he was standing straight again. He really _did_ have rapid healing abilities.

She opened the bag and pulled out her phone, looking for the number and amidst the names, she saw the one she was searching for. ' _Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters'._ Pressing on the number, it started to ring and she sighed, holding one hand to her heart as she heard a young boy pick up the phone.

 _"Hello?"_

"Hi, I'm calling to speak to Bobby Drake, is he there?"

 _"May I ask who this is?"_ The boy asked, politely, if guarded.

"My name is Persephone Brandt. He'll know who I am." Seph informed the boy and she heard him put the phone down.

A few minutes later, Bobby picked up the phone. _"Persephone?"_

"Hi, Bobby."

 _"What's wrong?"_ He asked, his voice full of concern.

"Some guy just called me a mutant and tried to kill me." Persephone didn't beat around the bush. "Whoever he's working for, might come any of the family that are mutants."

 _"But you aren't a mutant."_ Bobby sounded confused.

"That's what I said. Maybe because you're registered as a mutant, he thought I'd be on that list." Seph explained, rattled. "Someone is going to get Joey and bring him to me, so whoever was planning some "if she doesn't get killed, then the other one will" sort of plan won't work. Do you think you could come by sometime? We need help."

 _"I'll be there tomorrow. I'll meet you at your place?"_ Bobby asked and Seph's heart warmed. She had never been close to the other sides of her family. Only Bobby had come to the funeral to support both Seph and Joey and she was forever grateful for it.

Seph turned to look at Steve and Tony who had walked toward her.

Steve had heard her conversation and shook his head. "We'll meet him here. Just in case." He said and she nodded.

"Meet me at the Avenger's Tower, okay?" Seph asked as she heard Bobby stop for a second.

 _"The Avenger's Tower? What are you doing there?"_ Bobby questioned, making Seph blush and Steve smile.

"What did he say?" Tony asked, leaning forward to listen, but Steve stopped him, an exasperated look on the ninety three-year-old's face

"I'm on a date." Seph mumbled to him, hearing Bobby gasp.

 _"You're on a date with one of the AVENGERS?"_ Bobby yelled and Seph pulled the phone from her ear.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Seph growled, pouting.

" _It's not. You're gorgeous."_ Seph's eyes rolled at his statement. _"Which one?"_ Bobby was eager.

"I'm not telling you, Bobby." Seph pointed to the phone, realizing she was _pointing to a phone_ and quickly put her hand down.

Steve and Tony chuckled.

" _I'll just have to find out myself."_ Bobby spoke up. _"See you tomorrow, cousin."_

"Tell Rogue I said 'hi'." Seph said before ending the call to look at the two grown men smiling like teenage boys.

Seph sighed, rubbing her forehead as she leaned against the wall where there were two gunshot indentations and Steve's bloody side and she let out a shaky breath.

It was all _real._

The only way she was coping so well was because she was pretending it never happened and seeing those gunshots and the blood had only brought it home

Her back slid against the wall as her heartbeat raced and pounded against her chest.

She couldn't breathe.

It was just all too similar.

"Seph?" Steve asked, now worried as he knelt by her, but she couldn't see him. All that consumed her vision was her sister, falling to her knees, blood staining her shirt from the alien's gunshot as she protected her twin sister.

All she could hear was the gargled breathing of her sister and her last wish, _"Please, protect Joseph. Protect my baby boy. ANY way you c-can. I-I love y-you. . Perseph-"_

She couldn't breathe.

Steve was holding her shoulders but she wasn't seeing him, tears were rolling down her cheeks as her breathing became erratic, not enough air was going into the lungs before her body expelled it again. He could hear her heartbeat beating incredibly fast. Faster than normal. She wasn't showing any indication that she could hear him at all as Tony knelt down.

"JARVIS?" Tony asked, keeping a level head.

 _"Miss. Brandt is having a severe panic attack."_ JARVIS explained.

"From what just happened?" Tony asked, holding Seph's hand, to which she crushed, but he couldn't feel anything, due to the suit.

 _"No, I believe this altercation triggered something else in Miss. Brandt. An unresolved issue."_ JARVIS explained as Steve knelt closer toward Seph.

"You need to shock her." Tony explained, his mind pouring through different possibilities. "The body can't handle two types of shock made by two different causes."

Steve nodded and looked at the gasping Seph, almost a shadow of what she actually was. She was in so much pain.

So he liberated her.

Steve cupped her cheeks and for a split second, Seph's eyes snapped to him and he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers, hearing the rush of air feeding her starving lungs.

Seph's eyes widened as they focused on Steve completely, her eyebrows tugging into a confused look.

She had snapped out of it.

Steve pulled away and she looked at him, sniffling. "Are you alright, now?" Steve asked, looking into her eyes which were now haunted as she nodded, not saying a word. "Answer me." He ordered gently, needing to hear her voice.

"I-I'm okay. ." Seph whispered shakily, holding his hands that were still pressed to her cheeks.

"Aunt Seph!" Joey yelled just as Thor Odinson flew through the shattered window in his Asguardian battle ensemble with Joey tucked in his arm, looking a bit ruffled but unharmed.

A crushing weight lifted off Seph as she sighed in relief.

Joey ran to his aunt, the realization that he very nearly lost her was enough for him to temporarily put aside their differences and embrace his aunt hard, holding her as close as was humanly possible.

He ignored the three Avengers and kept his aunt close.

"I'm okay, Joey. I'm alright." Seph whispered, having missed him so much, she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. "All thanks to Steve." Seph turned her eyes to Steve who ducked down, hiding the small blush from one look of hers and he lifted his gaze to look into her eyes, scratching the back of his head.

Joey turned to see his hero face to face. He raised his small hand for the Sentinel of Liberty to shake and he beamed, "thank you for keeping my aunt safe."

Steve smiled gently, shaking the small boy's hand. "It was an honor and a pleasure to protect her."

Bright blue eyes made contact with bright hazel.

(..)

With the promise of introducing herself properly tomorrow, JARVIS showed both Seph and Joey to their temporary lodgings while the three men stayed behind to talk.

"Whoever that is, probably has backup." Steve said, having very nearly healed completely as he looked at Thor, "anything to report?"

"The guardian who watched over young Joseph had begun their attack as soon as I arrived. I managed to incapacitate her with minimal damage to the property." Thor was proud to share his progress. "The mother's teachings had not been passed down to her son, but I still do not trust them. I have tied the mother while I locked the boy in his room. He was resting when I left, so he will not be awaking for some time."

"We need intelligence." Tony interjected. "I can run facial recognition on both attackers, that should give me time to narrow some possibilities down."

"You do that." Steve said and looked back to Thor, "go and get the woman, bring her here and keep them away from each other. Stark, is there anyway we can keep these two separated and contained?"

"Leave it to me." Tony said.

"And the young boy?" Thor asked.

 _"I have run a check on the boy's other suited guardians and his father is clear. The boy will be safe with him."_ JARVIS announced.

"Thanks, JARVIS. And while you're at it. Run facial scans on both prisoners and I want everything on them. I mean everything. After breakfast tomorrow."

 _"Very well, sir."_ JARVIS finished and set off to the task his creator had ordered of him.

"I will grab the woman then." Thor swung the hammer before taking off once again.

Tony easily lifted the man, considering the suit absorbed most of the suit and looked at Steve, "I saw the way you kissed her. There is now way there wasn't feeling in that."

"And the best part?" Steve smiled gently, heading toward the stairs to check on the two Brandt's, "she kissed me back."

* * *

 **Hi everyone!**

 **I know! I'm crossing over two stories! I'm sowwy!**

 **But I really love Bobby Drake and I wanted to add him to the story and I have and I don't regret it.**

 **Thor's arrived! YAY!**

 **How long do you think before the other Avenger's get involved?**

 **Well, now we have a little more insight into Seph's family and her life, s** **he's still not quite over the invasion, huh? Nor the death of her twin sister. But that was to be expected right?**

 **Keep your eyes peeled for a new chapter and thank you guys so much for following this story and supporting it! I welcome it all and reviews. I love hearing your feedback!**

 **Until next time**

 **~Munsurieya**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 3, 415**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 6:_**

 ** _Ice To Meet Ya_**

* * *

Seph slowly woke up, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Snippets of last night flashed in her mind and she sighed, sitting up as she rested her head in her hands. _It wasn't a dream._

Groaning, she fell against the mattress.

 _"Good morning, Miss. Brandt."_ JARVIS's voice sounded in the room and Seph jumped; still not used to sudden verbal appearance of the AI.

"Um, good morning, JARVIS?" Her voice was soft as she looked around the room, looking for surveillance cameras but she couldn't find any.

 _"Mr. Stark has requested that I show you to the dining room where he and the others, including young Mr. Brandt are located, so they may have their meal with you."_ JARVIS announced and Seph nodded.

"Okay! Can you please inform Mr. Stark that I'll be there shortly?" Seph asked.

 _"Certainly, Miss. Brandt."_ JARVIS said before there was silence, indicating that he went to do as he was bid.

Seph took went to the adjoining bathroom and quickly neatened her makeup, making herself look less like a panda and more normal; to which she then fixed her hair. She sighed, knowing that this was as good as it was going to get.

She exited the bathroom and the bedroom, to which JARVIS showed her the way to the kitchen/dining room where the Avengers and her nephew were sitting. Joey was sitting with Steve, bashfully showing him the new Captain America comic that she bought him for his eleventh birthday, listening intently as Steve told the boy about how they were under enemy attack while he was drawing the first draft for it.

"Ah, The Goddess of the Underworld!" Tony called, looking straight at Seph who blushed.

Steve, Thor, Natasha, Clint and Bruce looked up at to stare at the blushing woman and Joey looked up, wondering why Tony called her that.

Steve sighed at Tony's antics before he stood respectfully and walked toward Seph and took her hand. "Persephone Brandt, I'd like you to meet my co-workers and the, well," Steve sighed once again, looking at his small group of friends with a slight smile curving his lips, "the Avengers."

Seph didn't know what to do in the presence of all these amazing people. So she did the only thing she could do.

She waved awkwardly, "hey, there."

They all smiled and waved back.

Steve went about introductions and he gestured to Bruce, "this is Dr. Bruce Banner," he was careful not to speak about his alter ego to which Bruce smiled gratefully, standing to shake the Seph's hand; he watched her warily, wondering if she was going to gush about the Other Guy.

Seph smiled brightly, shaking his hand enthusiastically, "it's nice to meet you, Dr. Banner, and thank you for everything you did for us." Bruce looked a little chuffed, looking at the red-head in shock before it turned into a slight smile.

She may have addressed the Other Guy as well, but she was looking directly at Bruce. She wasn't afraid and that dispelled his earlier worries.

"Thank you, Miss. Brandt." He answered her softly, before he sat down.

"Please, call me Seph. Or be like Steve and call me Persephone, even though I've told him _countless_ times to call me Seph." She looked at Steve, teasingly exasperated and he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

"This is Clint Barton," Steve quickly took the heat off himself and started to introduce the rest of the Avengers, Clint nodded his head, gesturing with his hand to her and she smiled, nodding. "Natasha Romanoff." Natasha studied Seph silently, making the woman wave nervously and Steve put a hand on the back on the small of her back. Nobody missed the tension leaving her shoulders as Steve rubbed gentle circles over her back. "Thor Odinson." Thor looked up, both sides of his cheeks full from the food he'd shoveled in his mouth. A bit of bacon hung from his bursting lips as he smiled, giving everyone a preview of the chewed food he had in his mouth. Everyone groaned in disgust, but Seph giggled, wiggling her fingers at him in greeting.

"We've met, albeit not under the best of circumstances." Seph said, her smile becoming a bit strained as she remembered the events of last night; that didn't go unnoticed either.

"And here's Tony, but you met him previously." Steve sighed, his hand stopping the circles and he slowly curled his arm around her waist, his fingers drumming against her hipbone.

"Persephone," Tony said her name reverently, standing up, only to bow as if he was meeting the real goddess.

So Seph played along.

She stood tall, straightened her back and adopted a regal expression. "Peasant." She addressed him, her eyebrow raised delicately. Tony's head snapped to look at the woman who teased him. Everyone around the table, even Joey, started laughing at the fact that _Tony Stark_ was being called a peasant, Seph felt Steve chuckle gently as Tony looked mildly amused.

"I like you." Tony shrugged softly as he sat back down at the head of the table and Steve helped her into the seat next to him, before taking his own next to Joey, who looked at his aunt and he smiled softly over to her. Persephone looked over to him and she reciprocated the smile.

Natasha watched them; Joey never really looked at Seph, it was more like he was staring at someone else and as soon as they looked away; both aunt and nephew had identical expressions of heartbreak, as if they were thinking the exact same thing and it hurt too much to even conceive in thought. It was only for a fleeting moment, almost too quick to catch, but Natasha had decades of training and reading people. She wondered if it had anything to do with tragic death of Persephone's twin sister, Barbara; Joey's mother.

Steve handed Seph all types of breakfast foods and surprising everyone at the table, apart from Joey, she took a large helping of every dish and started to eat heartily, unaware of the Avengers eyes on her.

"Cap, you got a good woman there." Clint grinned, watching the petite woman eat twice her weight's worth on the plate.

"Aunt Seph always eats like that." Joey mused, watching his aunt with a somewhat amused expression.

Seph suddenly looked up, swallowing the large portion of food that she had in her mouth, "huh?" She hummed as she watched them all stare at her.

The Avengers burst into laughter and a confused Seph watched them, her eyebrows furrowed softly.

(..)

Steve and Seph were sitting down with the rest of the Avengers, waiting for the arrival of her cousin Bobby Drake; who was an active member of the X-Men.

Natasha was watching the woman carefully, who's knee was shaking in nervousness.

It was obvious she was trying to cope with the sudden events and by the trembling of her knee, the tormented look in her eyes and her hands clutching at Steve's, she was seriously trying to keep a level head. Not many people would be so calm in the presence of the Avengers, especially someone with Seph's past experiences; but Natasha was looking out for her team and it looked like Steve was very much invested in and cared about this woman.

 _"Sir, Mr. Drake has arrived. Shall I let him up?"_ JARVIS alerted them to Bobby's arrival.

"Yeah, thanks JARVIS." Tony answered, before looking up at the Avengers and a minute later, the elevator dinged and Seph stood to greet her cousin who walked into the room and Bobby Drake entered. He was wearing brown boots, washed out blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a flannel shirt that was undone and the sleeves were rolled up.

Unlike Seph, Bobby wasn't intimidated nor surprised by the Avengers.

His blue eyes scanned every inch of the room until he found Joey and Seph and strode to her, hugging her tight. "Are you alright?" He asked, his arms wrapped around her back as she smiled, her own arms sliding around his shoulders as she hugged her cousin.

"I'm okay. I'm good, Bobby." Seph reassured him as he sighed, pulling back to see the Avengers standing and Joey walking up to his uncle, and they hugged briefly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Seph said, "uh, this is my cousin Bobby. He's an X-Man." She introduced Bobby who waved with one hand, the other stuffed in his pocket.

"Nice to meet you, guys." Bobby grinned before he slung one arm over Seph's shoulder. "Which one of you dated my cousin?" He got straight to the point with a grin on his face.

"Bobby!" Seph shrieked, her entire face going bright red as he looked over all the Avengers, his eyebrows raised slightly. He wasn't going to let it go, now that he was here.

"You didn't say I couldn't find out." Bobby pleaded his case, looking over the Avengers as Seph hid her face in her hands.

Steve chuckled before standing and walked over to Bobby, easily towering over him as he held his hand out, "Steve Rogers. I was Seph's date last night." Their hands shook

Bobby's eyes widened and looked at Seph in shock, to which the red-head smacked his chest. "Don't look so surprised, you ass!" Seph's obvious irritation at her cousins shock made laughter ripple among the superhero group and Bobby laughed, before his hand that was on Seph's shoulder turned to ice and she squealed in shock, pulling away from the sudden zero plus temperature.

Joey laughed along with Bobby, as this was a natural thing with the family while the others watched Bobby's ice hand revert back to normal easily.

Bobby looked up at the stunned individuals on the couches before turning his eyes to what they had directed their attentions to.

His hand.

Putting two and two together before his face melted into recognition, "Oh!" He exclaimed, "sorry, I'm sure Seph told you that I'm a mutant." They nodded collectively, "well, my ability is Cryokinesis." At the confused looks on Thor, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Bruce and Steve's faces, he elaborated, "the Professor's definition would be: I have the power to create sub-freezing temperatures, turn any liquid into ice, create ice projectiles and shields and even generate a full body suit of ice armor when I need to or want to."

"Okay, so," Tony piped up, trying to wrap his head around everything that's occurred, "you're related to Sub-Zero?" He looked at Seph while pointing to Bobby, who chuckled.

Seph nodded in defeat.

Steve just sighed, his head hanging in exasperation at the only remaining Stark's antics.

"Okay, all jokes aside, I'd rather my cousin and my nephew weren't targets for something they aren't." Bobby said and everyone sobered.

"We've got both perps in two glass containers. I installed the divider last night." Tony said.

"How will it keep them contained if it's glass?" Bobby looked confused.

"The container was developed for something much stronger than just two assassins." Bruce piped up, his expression grave. "It was meant for the. . Other Guy."

All of the Avengers looked solemn, almost as if they too, didn't like keeping the Hulk in a confined space, especially when he was _angry._

"Anyone interrogated them, yet?" Bobby asked, pulling away from Seph as his blue eyes hardened, becoming steely.

"They have not roused yet. I'm afraid we may have struck them harder than we should have. I am used to. . . stronger opponents." Thor turned away, sheepish.

"Well, time for a wake-up call." Steve announced, his back straightening and he looked every inch of the captain he was purported to be, just like last night. "I think, Joseph, you should stay here, for your own safety. I'm not risking you and neither would your aunt." Captain America addressed the young boy who followed the order instantly.

"JARVIS will keep an eye on you. Uh, here." Tony delved into his pocket and tossed his Stark phone to the boy. "Go nuts, kid."

Joey caught the phone, sweeping his dark hair from his eyes and looked up at the billionaire, "thank you, Mr. Stark." His face showed just how excited he was, until he looked up at his aunt and the smile slipped. "W-what about Aunt Seph?" His indigo blue eyes turned to Steve and the war hero was struck. Joey had incredible eyes, almost hypnotic.

"Your aunt will come with us. She may have some things to ask about this problem. If you need anything, just ask JARVIS and he'll come get us." Steve said, smiling gently at the young boy who nodded.

"Stay safe, Aunt Seph." Joey half-smiled at Seph who nodded, tears in her eyes.

"You got it, kiddo."

(..)

Seph released a shaky breath, holding onto Steve's hand and he looked down at her to see that she was distressed.

"Hey, are you alright?" Steve worried over her.

"It's all real, isn't it?" Seph's voice was shaky as Bobby walked behind her, getting closer to their destination.

Steve looked down, ashamed. "I'm afraid so," his hand tightened around hers, trying to give her an anchor to the present, so she didn't experience another panic attack.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry about last night." Seph apologized and his heart stopped.

 _'She's not talking about the kiss, is she?'_ He thought for a fleeting moment.

"You never should have had to witness me like that. I'm so sorry." Seph sighed, looking up at Steve, "but. . thank you, for snapping me out of it."

Steve mentally sighed. She wasn't talking about the kiss, even though they would need to talk about it at some point; if she remembered, she didn't let on.

Bobby put a hand on her shoulder. "Deep breaths, Seph. Don't let it get to you." Seph nodded and focused on her breathing as she placed her well-being in the hands of her cousin and her love interest. Bobby seemed to know what he was doing as Steve turned to the cryokinetic mutant, studying him, "she had a panic attack yesterday, didn't she?" Bobby asked, his expression pensive as he turned his eyes to Steve.

"Yeah, after the assassin attacked and we subdued him, she. . had a severe panic attack." Steve kept his eyes trained to Seph, who looked more than a little sad.

Bobby sighed, obviously knowing something that Steve didn't as he squeezed Seph's shoulder softly. "It's okay, Seph." He said and she nodded, but she wasn't exactly listening.

They entered Tony's lab to see the two assassins already awake, trying to find a way out when Joanna saw Seph and the red-head's hands tightened, anger coursing through her veins, all signs of sadness and distress evaporated.

This mother, whom she trusted to look after her nephew, was going to eliminate him, regardless if Seph had been murdered or not. As far as Seph was concerned now, Joanna Vreyshkov didn't deserve to live.

Joanna smirked, "next time, I'll get the job done and that little shit of yours will be dead."

Seph's jaw clenched and she took a deep breath. "You're lucky to be alive. If it was up to me, I'd have thrown you out the window of the tallest floor and went back to drinking my coffee without batting an eyelash." She snarled and Joanna's smirk faltered, "you mess with me and you'll get a warning, you mess with my family and you won't see me coming." She snarled at the woman and the members of the Avengers let her say what she wanted.

Joanna kept her mouth shut as to not be provoked and Steve gently pulled Seph back, holding her close to his chest.

"Who sent you?" Steve commanded.

"Why would we tell you?" The man now spoke, glaring at Steve.

"Because, Mr. Gregory Kingston, well, that's not your real name is it?" Nat taunted, before continuing, "we know who the both of you are. Your identities are compromised and your both going to be our _'guests'_ for the entirety that the organization that you work for remains operational." Natasha spoke up calmly and Gregory's neutral expression melted into one of pure hatred, but neither prisoners spoke again before Bobby walked forward.

"Let me in there with them." He snarled, his fists clenching so hard, frost started to seep from his arms.

"They're trained assassins, they brought _Steve_ down. What makes you think you'd fair any better?" Tony stepped forward.

"Mr. Stark, these assassins just tried to murder my family in cold blood, just because they got a flawed order. Frankly I don't care that it was misinformation, Seph and Joseph have been through so much and they've overcome many problems and some they are still dealing with today. I will never stand for someone trying to hurt what family I have left just because of that." Bobby's blue eyes turned to Seph, who's head was low. "And with all due respect to Captain Rogers," the cryokinetic mutant nodded toward the super-solder, "but I think I can shield myself a little better."

Steve looked toward the young man, chuckling at the pun.

Seph looked at her cousin in worry and he smiled cockily, "don't worry, Seph. I'll be fine."

"You're asking the queen of worrying, remember?" Seph quipped.

"Maybe you should relinquish your crown." Bobby shot back, sending her a crooked half-grin before he started forward, but Seph caught him arm, making him turn.

"Be careful, alright?" Her eyes were earnest and her breathing shook slightly. She was afraid.

Bobby nodded, his sincerity ran off him in rivulets, "always." That was all the confirmation Seph needed, for she loosened her hold and let him go. "Don't die on me, Frosty."

"If you keep calling me Frosty, I'll show you what frosty really is," Bobby warned his cousin but she grinned, challenging him like she always did.

"We'll see, snowman." Seph teased him one more time and he turned back, winking at her before his entire body was encased in his ice armor and the glass door was opened. As soon as he stood inside and the electronic door closed, the entire cage frosted over and there was nothing to be seen.

 _"I'm sorry, sir; but the cameras and microphones have been compromised due to the sub-zero temperatures. There is no way of telling what Mr. Drake will do."_ JARVIS informed of them and they all looked to Seph for confirmation, who knew Robert Drake better than anyone here.

"I wouldn't have let him go in there if I had any doubt in his promise." Seph's answer was short and to the point.

"Are you sure? Some people tend to be different than what you first initially thought." Steve countered, looking down at her as she looked up.

"I know that. My ex-boyfriend is proof of that, but I _know_ Bobby. He would never lie to me." Seph backed up her claim, looking fierce as her back straightened and her hands balled into fists as she argued her point.

With the additional information that Nat had done, she knew that Persephone Brandt was stronger than most, had been through more than most and would fight harder than most, but Seph's display of ferocity and loyalty to her family, and the fight she put up last night to protect Steve; Nat was a little bit warmer to Seph, but she wouldn't trust her still. There were things that the red-head was keeping from them. It was only a matter of time.

That was when they heard dual muffled thuds coming from the cage.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 264**_

* * *

 ** _Chapter 7:_**

 ** _Making Headway_**

* * *

The Avengers and Seph watched intently as the frost that had enveloped the glass container started to evaporate and slowly become water.

 _"Sir, I have visual on Mr. Drake."_ JARVIS spoke through the silence.

"Tell me what you see, buddy." Tony answered, his eyes transfixed on the frosted glass.

 _"Mr. Drake has incapacitated the prisoners, by exposing them to subfreezing temperatures. It seems he is waiting for the glass to thaw. The mechanisms have frozen over."_

"Okay JARVIS, start up the heaters. Start slow and gradually turn up the heat."

 _"Yes, sir."_

Tony looked toward Seph, "is he going to be okay in there? I mean, it's probably just as freezing as that iceberg was that Steve was in. No offence, Cap."

"Taken." Steve quipped. "Maybe you'd like to know the experience."

"Verbal threat!" Tony grinned, happy that he was successfully baiting the stoic soldier.

"Yes. He'll be okay. His mutation gives him immunity over sub-freezing temperatures." Seph said, rubbing her hands over arms. She could feel the cold from the container and she shivered. She got cold _way_ too easily.

Steve, without thinking, wrapped his arms tighter around her shivering form and pulled her closer to his warm chest, rubbing his hands over her upper arms. "Better?" He asked, looking down at his date. Seph looked up and smiled kindly.

"Yes, thank you." Seph leaned into his warm chest, her head resting over his left breast, closing her eyes for a moment, just appreciating the feeling of his body and the undeniable warmth that he produced and the rhythm of his strong, steady heartbeat that calmed her. Steve smiled, enjoying the feel of her own small figure against his as his body-heat warmed her, just like she warmed him with a simple smile.

The other members of the team watched them fondly before the ice melted away, the doors opened and Bobby emerged, looking a little shaken. Seph opened her eyes and turned her head as she looked at Bobby's face, which was pale and not from the ice. "Bobby, what happened?" Seph asked, slipping out of Steve's embrace and bounded toward her cousin, grabbing his shoulders, looking for any visible signs of injury. "Bobby, talk to me!"

"Anyone know the name: Адского Огня?" Bobby asked, shakily, looking at Seph as he pulled her closer, as if warding off anyone that dared to hurt her.

"Huh?"

"Are you sure that's what they said?" Natasha's expression was grave, incredibly serious, her back straight and her entire body tensed.

"What is it?" Steve asked, eyebrows pulling together in concern as Tony shrugged, his face also serious.

"I don't know, but if it's got Nat shaken. . ." Bruce murmured.

"What is the tongue in which you speak, ice-man?" Thor questioned, not understanding what Natasha obviously did.

"Адского Огня. It means ' _Hellfire'_ in Russian." Natasha answered their questions.

"What's it about?" Clint asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It was just myth back in Russia, I never thought it actually existed." Nat murmured, before looking at the team, and then directly to Seph, "in my knowledge, _Hellfire_ is rumored to be a Soviet kill-squad, killing their political targets precisely and efficiently without ever getting caught. When I heard of them, they were also in the business of killing mutants whose powers were unable to be utilized for their gain, or they were just killed for being a powerful threat." Nat looked over the Seph with somber eyes, "if you've been targeted by these people, and if they actually _do_ exist; then you and your nephew _will die._ " Nat informed, making Seph's breathing stop.

"But why are they targeting me? I'm _not a mutant_ and neither is Joey! How many times do I have to say it for it to sink through?!" Seph snarled, now livid at how, after everything her nephew had been through, he was going to be under even more stress _now._ Seph's eyes flashed with rage as she stared at all of them, still being held by her cousin who felt a spike in her body temperature and now she was starting to heat up with anger, like she always did. "They aren't going to get near my nephew. I won't let them."

"And neither will we, we need to find out everything we can about this organization. Even if we have to resort to extreme measures to glean information from our less than willing prisoners. Did they say anything else?" Steve took control of the situation and everyone straightened, listening to their leader.

"No, just that word before they passed out." Bobby affirmed as Steve nodded.

"Stark, you'll be in charge of research, if there's even a whisper on any kind of forum, website, radio network or TV show, I wanna know about it." Steve ordered as Tony nodded and quickly went to his many computers, shouting orders at JARVIS. "Romanoff, you have some knowledge on this _Hellfire_ , you'll collaborate with Tony. Barton, anybody in the wide world you know who can possibly help us?"

"Sure, they'll need a bit of ' _persuading_ ' but nothing I can't handle." Clint answered, cracking his knuckles.

"Do what you have to." Steve agreed, "Thor, you'll team up with Clint. More _'persuasion'_ , more answers."

"Understood, Captain. Come, archer. Let us seek answers for this fire of Hell." Thor strode out confidently and Clint sighed.

"I'll reel him in." Clint assured Steve before following the Asgardian prince out of the door and Bruce stood, taking his glasses off as he caught Steve's attention.

"If Seph will let me, I can take some blood samples from you. Gain some perspective on the matter with the mutant situation, they obviously wouldn't attack if they didn't have some proof that you were a mutant. If we're going to act accordingly and protect you and your nephew in a way that will benefit you both, some insight would be greatly appreciated." Bruce explained and Steve looked at Seph who sighed.

"If it helps, then you can drain me of all my blood, I don't care." Seph looked away and Bobby's eyes saddened.

Bruce nodded and quickly exited as Steve pulled her into his broad chest, hugging her tight, to which Seph reciprocated wholeheartedly, sighing. "Is there anybody that can help us on your side of the board?" Steve asked Bobby, who nodded.

"Professor Xavier. He can help us." Bobby suggested, both Seph and Steve nodded. "He can keep Joey safe."

"I'll just go see Joey and do what Dr. Banner wants and then we'll go." Seph patted Steve's back before she extricated herself from his hold and walked upstairs to find Joey.

Once Seph was out of sight and earshot, Bobby looked at Steve, "it must be the real thing, huh?"

"Excuse me?" Steve asked, politely, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"You must really like my cousin to be getting all the Avengers on this, doing all this for her and Joseph." Bobby explained his statement, smiling softly.

"Persephone is someone I would protect with my life without question. She's not like the other women I've met these days. She'd rather protect herself and those close to her than be protected herself. She's strong, fierce, she can punch a jerk right over the island counter of Poppy's Diner," they both chuckled at that, "and she has a past that she's coming to terms with. I'm not going to pry until she's ready to tell me, but I can see it still haunts her to this day, and she still has the strength to get up in the morning, continue a normal life and smile and somehow find the light to make it genuine." Steve marvelled at Seph, his eyes shifting to steps she had taken previously.

"You're good for her." Bobby grinned, "you both deserve a win and don't think I don't notice how she is with you. One date and already you act like you've been together for years. Trust me, that kind of connection. . it's special. Don't let it fizzle." Bobby warned, before taking the same route as Seph.

Steve stayed, looking at the glass containment unit, where the two prisoners were busy thawing.

He was going to protect Joseph and Seph with his life, no matter how much she pushed in front to protect _them_ _._

(..)

Seph finished her blood samples so Bruce could start on his analysis, before they were heading to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and they entered the school and they were greeted by a bald, elderly man in a wheelchair. "Bobby, welcome back! And you brought guests I see." His English accent tickled something in the recesses of her mind but she ignored it when she felt slight pressure against her hand. Seph looked down to see Joey hiding behind Steve as he held onto her hand.

"Professor Xavier, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Persephone Brandt and our nephew Joseph." Both Seph and Joey looked up to nod.

"Nice to meet you, Professor." Seph spoke gently, "I hear you can help us."

"Well, I am more than willing to try. I'm Charles Xavier, it's nice to meet you. And it is a pleasure to meet you, Captain Rogers."

Both men shook hands and Steve nodded, "the pleasure is all mine, sir." Steve's politeness made Seph smile gently. Despite the guarantee of safety from Bobby, she couldn't help but worry if Joey would actually _be safe_ here.

"There is no safer place for your nephew than my school, Miss. Brandt." Charles reassured her and both Steve and Joey looked confused while Bobby just smirked.

"Uh, I didn't say any-" Seph looked startled and she felt incredibly shocked at how accurate his statement was.

"Oh!" Charles chuckled, shaking his head at himself, "it's become quite the habit, excuse me. I'm telepathic, you see. I can read minds." He explained himself.

"Oh~," Seph let a long drawn exclamation, smacking Bobby's chest in recognition.

"I assure you, young Joseph, _'awesome'_ is only the beginning." Charles addressed Joey, even though the young boy hadn't said anything and Joey let loose a pure Persephone Brandt grin curl his lips and widen them. It was the largest smile Seph had ever seen the boy produce since before the death of his mother. Back when Joey loved his favourite Auntie with all his heart, and didn't blame her for the destruction of their family.

Charles led them to his office as Bobby caught up with the Professor while Steve, Seph and Joey hung back and she held onto both her nephew and her boyfriend? Friend? Love-interest? She didn't know. After a kiss like that, you'd expect to be in the bedroom; having massive amounts of explicit _fun_. But Steve also didn't seem the type to shack up with a woman on the first date, though they did get suspiciously close during their dance. It was. . confusing. And Seph was a _woman_ , everything about her species was confusing to men, but Steve Rogers was a confusing enigma, wrapped in blonde-haired and blue-eyed mystery and patriotic sex-appeal. It didn't help that through their almost kiss they were nearly pumped full of lead and she had a full blown panic attack after.

Damn.

What also confused her was the fact that Joey wasn't pulling away like he normally did. If she went to pat his shoulder or hug him, he'd move away and give her a forbidding look as if he _hated_ her with everything in his being, but now he seemed to be pushing into her as if he needed to be near her, like he was _protecting her_. It was something that played with what had been ingrained in her mind for the last two years.

 _Don't touch Joey._

 _Don't look at Joey in the eyes._

 _Don't speak to him unless he initiates the conversation first._

 _Don't bring up Babs._

 _Don't bring up Mum and Dad._

 _Don't be an Aunt, just be a shadow._

That was what had been ingrained in her thought process for the last two years of the hell that was their lives and they were only now starting to settle on their feet until all this happened. She was stepping on eggshells around her own nephew and while Persephone Brandt played to sound of her own drum and nobody else's, she had set aside her stubbornness for her nephew. _To make him comfortable._

A lot of weird shit's going on now, she didn't know if she could keep up with it all.

"Professor, will you be using Cerebro?" Bobby asked as they continued through the school.

"Not this time, Bobby. I believe there is a different approach that they can go about, something that they need desperately." Charles answered, quiet enough for the three behind not to hear.

 _"Something to steer her in the right path."_ Charles thought, his face grave.

He didn't know how Seph would take his suggestion.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **3** **, 924**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8:**_

 _ **Thanks for the Memories**_

* * *

"Miss. Brandt, how far are you willing to go to keep your family safe?" Charles asked as they sat down in his office. Steve stood behind Seph while both Brandt's sat in the leather chairs opposite Charles and Bobby who took flank behind the Omega level telepath.

"I'd do anything." Seph answered without hesitation, her eyes determined as she looked directly into Charles' gray eyes.

He sighed, looking at all the faces in his office before he nodded, "now, what I am going to propose, will shock you and you will want to turn back and forget you ever came here as it still is quite a raw subject for you and I will not push this upon you if you don't want feel like pursuing, but this is the _only_ offer I will lay on the table."

"Nothing is going to stop me from protecting Joey. I swore to Barbara that I'd protect him with my dying breath and if it comes to that, so be it. I don't think your proposal will scare me off that." Seph's voice was clear, with conviction as her back straightened. Joey looked up at his aunt and for a split second, he saw the old Persephone. His fearless aunt that would do anything to protect her family, even if it meant she'd get into a fist fight. _This_ is who he looked up to. She had never left.

"Does visiting your family home change your mind?" Charles asked and Seph's expression froze, her entire body tensed as she remembered her home, where she and Barbara had some of their best memories in that house. She had watched Joey grow up in that house, had played with him for hours on end, had driven her parents mad under their roof as any daughter with a rebellious streak in her would.

That house was sacred to her.

Damaged and broken now, she would taint the image of perfection from then.

"That's why you're working two jobs is it not? To pay the mortgage?" Joey looked at his aunt who was still ramrod straight. She was going through all this stress just to keep her family home that she couldn't even step a foot in, just to preserve the memories?

"I. . I can't go back there. . ." Seph whispered, tears threatening to flow as Steve rested a hand on her shoulder and she sighed, feeling an overwhelming calmness overtake her and Joey took her hand, and she felt it all over again, the hesitant love through his touch.

Charles sighed, "I will not force you, Miss. Brandt." Charles looked to the obviously suffering Persephone and the young, saddened Joseph who looked up at his aunt with haunted eyes, she was trapped in her own thoughts, "but it could potentially hold the key to you and your nephew's survival. Even Bobby's." He said, trying to get his point across.

"Okay," Steve piped up, stopping Charles. "That's enough. Persephone needs time to sort through her own thoughts."

"Of course." Charles agreed, his back hitting his chair as Seph turned to her nephew and he looked up at her. Joey was dying to go back to their family home, but he was old enough to know what whatever was going to happen, was going to be bad for Aunt Seph and she wouldn't want him to see her like that. He'd have enough time to see the house, now that he knows that she had kept paying the mortgage. It was under her name. He'd have time.

"I think you should go, Aunt Seph." Joey murmured, forcing himself to take her hand, throwing the memories of his mother in the back of his mind, this was about his aunt now.

"We'll leave you two to talk about it amongst yourselves." As all three men went to walk out, Joey spoke up.

"Wait! Captain America can stay." Joey called for Steve who stopped in the middle of the doorway, stunned. He turned back to look at them, shocked that the young boy wanted a virtual stranger to stay with them while they had a private conversation, but then Seph looked up, pleading silently with her eyes, before she too spoke:

"I'd like it if Captain America could stay too." She whispered brokenly, sniffling as tears threatened to fall from her overwhelming emotions and all Steve could do was nod as he slowly walked back into the room, nodding to the two men silently who continued to move down the hall and Steve closed the door and he leaned against the desk.

"If it helps you figure something out. . .I think you should do it." Joey picked up his train of thought, looking up at his aunt.

"But I don't want to leave you. I've done that enough." Seph answered, clutching his hand.

"You haven't ever left me, Aunt Seph. Not once. No matter how many times I _wished_ you would over the past two years; _you never did._ " Joey continued, sounding much older than his eleven years. "So, you need to go. Get all this sorted out and we can kick these bad guys in the butt, for thinking they could ever mess with the Brandt's." Seph chuckled at his determination and, forgetting all of the warnings over the past two years, she pulled him into a tight hug, lifting Joey over the chair and into her lap, cuddling him close. Steve grinned, remembering how his mother used to do that as well.

"Damn right." Seph chuckled, closing her eyes in affection as Joey wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tightened his hold, having missed her cuddles.

"So, you'll do it?" Joey asked, his voice muffled from her shoulder.

"Suppose I'll have to. To keep you safe, I'll do it." Seph affirmed and Steve smiled softly.

"Only if Captain America goes with you." Joey added, making Seph chuckle.

"You know, you can call him Steve, I don't think he minds. . .do you?" Seph asked, suddenly unsure as she looked up at the Running Man, who nodded, a crooked grin replacing the soft smile.

"You can call me Steve, buddy." America's New Hope placated the young boy.

"Well. . .only if you go with . . ." Joey looked to his left and right conspicuously, " _Steve_." He whispered, as if saying his name was going to get him in trouble.

"I promise." Seph smiled, looking at her nephew and his hand touched her cheek, as if reminiscing and he knew who he was seeing. Barbara.

His eyes glazed over and he pictured indigo blue eyes and darker hair, more of a warm brown. A slightly crooked mouth when she smiled and the indescribable love only a mother could have for their child. But the image faded and indigo was replaced with stunning hazel and brown hair dissolved into a chestnut red, the slightly crooked lips becoming center and he was once again staring at his aunt and anger overtook him. _She left him again._

Seph's hands tightened around her nephew as she cradled him close, feeling the overwhelming anger he was transmitting through every single cell of his body. She had an idea of why he got so angry when he actually looked at her, but she never voiced the opinion. She'd probably just anger him even more, so she set him back and looked into his eyes. "But you need to promise me that you'll stay here with Uncle Bobby. Okay? You'll be safe here, just until this blows over."

"But what about you?" Joey asked, his expression defiant.

"They don't want you, Joey, they want me. But if they can't get to me, they'll try to get you to make me do something rash, and I won't allow that to happen, okay? So please, _stay here_. Stay _safe_ with Uncle Bobby." Seph pleaded to Joseph who looked up at her, before nodding. She had avoided his question, Steve caught on.

She wasn't expecting to survive something like this.

"Okay."

(..)

After changing quickly at her apartment, and Steve scanning every inch of the apartment and standing guard at every possible entrance and exit, Seph was on the back of Steve's motorbike, wearing the appropriate headgear and pads, just in case they were stopped by the police and she really didn't need the extra hassle right now. Seph directed him, every single detail of the way resurfacing. She was shocked to realize that she never forgot the route.

She clutched at Steve's hand as they took the steps up the porch and stopped at the front door. With her other hand, she pulled the lone key from her jean pocket, her hand shaking as she reached for the keyhole to unlock the door.

Steve's large hand steadied Seph's. "Deep breaths, doll." Steve whispered in her ear, his arm wrapping around her waist gently to comfort her. Seph closed her eyes to center herself and took deep breaths. Her hand stopped shaking enough for the key to slide in and she slowly turned it, to hear the mechanisms inside click, unlocking. Seph exhaled deeply as she lifted her hand from the key and to the doorknob and she slowly turned, her other hand gripping at Steve's own and she cautiously opened the door.

The house was the same.

Both Steve and Seph took a step inside the home and smelt . . . _roses._ Seph's eyebrows furrowed and with her curiosity taking the forefront of her emotions, her fear and dread being pushed to the side as they walked straight through the small foyer and she took a sharp right, through the gap in the wall to see the living room, completely spotless. Devoid of dust and the clear plastic wrapping that she had put on all the furniture. It was like someone had taken it upon themselves to clean her house since she hadn't stepped foot in it for two years.

Everything was still in its place. She hadn't taken any of the photos from the walls or displays. She couldn't touch anything in the house that belonged to her parents and sister. But they were all free of the thousands of layers of dust that should be coating them.

Someone's obviously been doing maintenance while Seph was unaware and as far as she knew, only she had the keys.

"Why does it look so spotless?" Steve asked as she looked around.

"Someone's been cleaning in here. ." Seph noted, her fingertips running over the couch, the sensation triggering memories.

 _"Come on, Babs! The show's about to start!" 16-year-old Persephone Brandt ran to the TV, somersaulting over the armrest and landing perfectly on the cushion as a heavily pregnant Barbara waddled after her, followed by their loving parents._

 _"I'm comin', Seph, you know it's not exactly easy to walk now." Barbara called, smiling at her twin sister who had a large grin of her own._

 _"You're just making excuses like you always did when I'd beat your ass in track." Seph's grin turned into a cocky smile as she helped Barbara sit down._

 _"Language, Persephone Lucille." Michael Brandt, their father called, swatting the back of her red head gently. Persephone's hair colour was contributed from him. Seph turned and flashed her father the same cocky smile, her hazel eyes- a spitting image of her mother's eyes, looking directly into the indigo blue of her father's._

 _"Yes, sir!" Seph snapped, saluting her father who chuckled and kissed both of his daughter's heads, before moving to the loveseat with his wife, Cora._

 _As soon as Barbara was seated in a position that was most comfortable for her, Seph lay next to her. Her ear was firmly pressed to Barbara's bulging tummy, which was encasing her unborn nephew. Keeping him safe and warm until he was ready to join them in the world and be something that the Brandt's treasured._

"It's like this entire house is one big memory for me." Seph sighed, taking her hand away from the sofa and she abruptly turned and walked down the hall to the see stairs which led to the bedrooms.

She wondered. . .

With Steve hot on her heels, they climbed up the stairs:

 _The sound of her nephew's wails were loud and the baby monitor that was a forever constant at Babs' side, made it even louder._

 _Babs sighed and struggled to get up; she was overwhelmed and tired from looking after her newborn son. Her parents and Seph helped as much as they could, Seph especially, but even then, there were some things that only a mother could do._

 _"Woman!" Seph yelled from the kitchen, stilling Babs' advances. "Stay put, I'm going!" Seph abandoned her homework and ran for her nephew, her intentions clear as she barreled up the staircase. "Auntie Seph is coming, honey!" Seph called as she raced to his room._

Seph led them through the halls to see a door with a faded, yellowed paper sign with block letters spelling:

 _KEEP OUT: SEPH AND BABS' ROOM._

"Persephone. . " Steve whispered, frowning gently.

"This was the room Babs and I shared before I moved out, but she had kept everything the same. She'd tell me it reminded of her of when we were stupid. I told her that all she'd have to do was look in the mirror and see that we were still just a couple of idiots," Seph explained, a small smile curving her full lips, until her expression became dark and the smile slipped, "when Babs died . . . I was _furious_ with her. I _wanted_ to trash the room, completely wreck it in a fit of rage, but I _couldn't_. Because all I could think about was her. She'd have gotten _so_ mad." Steve set his hands gently on Seph's shoulders, but he could feel heat coming from her body. For a woman who got cold as easily as her, it was a wonder that she got so warm so quick.

She reached for the doorknob, her hand shaking.

Turning the doorknob, she pushed the door open and there it was.

Their old room.

Spotless, just like she left it.

The walls were covered in posters from movies, T.V. shows, music bands and homemade comic reel posters. Above Seph's bed was the last issue that Steve had ever penned. Showing his friendship with Bucky throughout the years. A memorial issue that he was against publishing, but someone must have found it, after he had been declared dead, among his things. Seph had the original intact version somewhere in the room, untouched. She had bought another version to crop it and make it into a poster. He saw the sign, that had been blown up to fit the size of the poster:

 _Captain America:_

 _A Fallen Hero._

In the center of the piece was a black and white photo of Bucky and Steve laughing and under the photo was the letters:

 _Rest in Peace_

 _James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes_

 _1917 - 1945_

Steve looked at the poster and then at Seph, who blushed. "I-I forgot that I had it up."

"No. . it's alright. . I just didn't know it had been published and I actually think it's adorable that you were just as big a fan as Joey is." Steve said, ripping his gaze from the poster to her, as her cheeks reddened.

"Where do you think he got it from?" Seph asked as she sat on the bed.

 _"Welcome to Wrestlemania! Tonight, we have the long awaited match, the most anticipated moment since Moses was writing the Ten Commandments! I introduce to you, the challenger, the Hollywood Heartbreaker!" Michael called into a hairbrush, pretending it was the megaphone as he was wearing a white shirt, pretending to be the referee and announcer._

 _Eleven-year-old Barbara bounded in, her hands raised above her head as she whooped, Cora clapping for moral support._

 _"And entering the ring, weighing forty-five pounds, the current Heavyweight Champion: Miss. America~!" Michael called and Seph came running in with her homemade Captain America shield that she made out of their trash can and she had her fairy wings on her head to simulate the wings that the First Hero had on his helmet/mask._

 _Cora simulated the roaring crowd as Seph set the paper belt on her shoulder, standing on the mattresses that was on the floor between their beds while Cora and Michael sat on the bed, more than happy to play with them._

 _"Let the match begin!" Michael called and Cora grabbed her glass and tapped the side with a spoon to simulate the bell and both girls started to play-wrestle._

Seph smiled gently, her eyes roaming over every single detail. "I never thought I'd smile in this house again." She mused, still holding Steve's hand.

"Maybe your fears weren't as confronting as you first thought." Steve suggested, tightening his grip on her hand as he watched her.

Seph hummed in agreement but she was lost in another memory.

 _"Barbara! Let me in! It isn't just your room, y'know! I've got a hot date with a hot guy and I must fix my face!" Seph squealed through the door._

 _"If he saw you as hideous as you are and still asked you out, then he's brave as all hell." Barbara giggled as she heard Seph's gasp._

 _"Hey! You can't go calling me hideous! We have the same face!" Seph burst through the door, to see Barbara laughing, about to fall off her chair. Seph started to giggle as she helped her sister up, setting her in the chair easily. That's when she spotted the video recorder. "What are you doing with Mum and Dad's video recorder?"_

 _"it's a video for you, for the future." Barbara answered between wheezing breaths._

 _"Sounds mysterious." Seph commented, rattling around the room as she grabbed her things, "why is it for me?"_

 _"Because, if I'm not around to tell you, then a video of me will be able to do it for me." Barbara answered._

 _"Don't talk nonsense. You'll always be around. Imagine me trying to raise Joey, chaos will surely take over New York. I'll lose the poor kid at the supermarket or something. And don't bring up the Walmart incident!" Seph poked her sister's cheek before kissing it and she looked directly into the camera. "Hi, future old me! You better be married and a damn super model and if you're not, then I'll come through this recorder and make you! See ya!" Seph left hurriedly, leaving a hysterical Babs in her wake._

 _When she returned that night, Barbara was fixing the rug on their floor, since they had a small little secret passage that they hid their most important secrets, away from their parents._

 _Seph entered like nothing happened._

"Steve, help me with this." Seph fell to her knees on the floor, pushing the rug out of the way. Steve quickly followed suit, pushing the rug the rest of the way and she started knocking on each individual board.

"What are you looking for?" Steve asked, watching her curiously.

"I remembered something Barbara did for me years ago." Seph explained, hearing the hollow knock and she looked at Steve with a small grin playing at her lips. "Bingo." She muttered and she used the ruler on the desk to pry it up and Steve pulled it up and away.

Peering inside, there was dust and cobwebs from years of forget and neglect.

Seph blew air in the cavity slightly, the sun from the exposed window, filtering perfectly in the hole and there was all of the Brandt sister's secrets, but on top, was a VHS tape protected by all the dust and age with a tape cover.

She pulled it out and blew some of layers of dust and they both leaned back from it. "I think _this_ is what I needed to find." Seph told Steve and he quickly put the wooden board back and set the rug in its place.

"Wanna head back and find out what your sister has to say to you?" Steve asked, both of his hands on her shoulders as he looked down into her fearful eyes.

"Honestly. . . I'm terrified, Steve. I'm scared of what I'm going to find on the tape. Scared it might not hold any answers for me, scared that I came here for no reason, scared that I went through all this torture for no reason and there is no way I can help my family if that happens."

"Hey," Steve gently interjected, his hold tightening as he pulled her closer to him, pressing his lips to her forehead. "That won't happen, because I won't let it." Steve answered simply, making her smile, "and do you know why that is?" He whispered against her forehead.

"Because you're Captain America?" Seph suggested, chuckling softly, leaning her head back to look up at him with wide eyes.

"Because I care too much about you to see you get hurt." Steve answered, "and if it's ever up to me, I'll make sure you have a happy smile on your face every day. Not because you _need_ to, but because you _want_ to smile." His eyes locked with hers.

"Thank you." Seph whispered, shakily, leaning up on her tiptoes and she pressed a soft, gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth, her lips lingering for _just_ a moment as if she wanted more, but it wasn't the right time. "We better head back." She sighed, taking a step back from him.

Steve cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to fight down the blush creeping from his neck to his cheeks, "yeah, yeah. We should go and get this to the Avengers Tower."

Seph nodded and they both exited her place of memories.

(..)

"Dr. Banner! You might want to have a look at this!" One of the medical examiner's called Bruce over hurriedly, looking pale and increasingly worried.

Bruce turned from his work assessing the fingerprints of the 'guests' they had locked in the containment unit, he raced to the microscope, shutting one eye tight to see what had the other medical professional so worried until he too, took a step back, his expression shocked and horrified as he shakily slipped off his glasses.

"My God."

* * *

 ** _DUN DUN DUN!_**

 ** _What do you think is on the tape? What do you think Bruce has found on one of the slides? Could it be related to Persephone? . ._** ** _Or related to Hellfire?_**

 ** _You might want to keep this story on alert if you want to find out._**

 ** _Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, review, follow and favourite 'Her Best Boy' and me! I truly appreciate it, thank you!_**

 ** _~Munsurieya_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **3** **, 053**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9:**_

 ** _The Tape_**

* * *

Seph handed the tape to Tony who thanked her before he distributed the VHS tape into the VCR and the billionaire looked at the red-head, "are you sure you want us to see it too? It's personal isn't it?" Tony usually wasn't sensitive to other people's emotions, but he understood the pain of loss and that was enough for him to be considerate of someone he didn't know. Plus, the Cap's girl was kind of growing on him, but he'd never admit out loud.

"Everyone needs to see it, because if anything happens, I'm going to need _all_ of your input and individual opinions for the best course of action." Seph's hazel eyes flicked to Iron Man, she looked out of her depth.

Tony's eyes followed her and the way she spoke sounded eerily like Steve. "Military?"

"My father, Michael. He enlisted as a Sergeant for two tours." Seph answered and a soft reminiscent curve of her full lips as she remembered her beloved father. She had always been a daddy's girl while Barbara was the exact opposite. Both twins loved their parents equally, but they always went to the other in times of crises or just for guidance, and for Seph, it was always Michael. "So, yes. I'm sure I want you all there to see it."

He nodded once, sighing as he quickly went through the motions and the holographic image of a teenage Barbara Brandt was in the center of the room as the Avengers gathered around and Seph gasped at the wide screen image of her own sister. It had been a long time since she'd seen Barbara look alive, photos didn't do justice to the happy twinkle in her eye nor the life in her cheeks.

Bruce entered the room, but he slowed his quick stride until he halted with the rest, seeing the twin of Persephone frozen from the tape on the holographic projector. The news he had to share, melted away as he looked at Seph's almost heartbroken features. So he opted to stay silent for the time being, maybe Barbara had some insight that she could share from among the grave.

"Are you ready?" Steve probed gently, his eyes flicking toward Seph who nodded, sniffling.

"P-play it." Her voice was hoarse as she held back a sob that was threatening to rise from her throat.

Steve turned his head to Tony and nodded once. The video played.

 _"It's weird talking to a camera like this."_ Barbara's gentle voice brought Seph to tears. In two long, grueling years, she hadn't heard that voice; had implored to any and every deity to hear her sister speak once more. To let her know that she was okay. This answered her prayers. _"Well, it's now or never."_ Barbara chuckled, her eyes closing as she scratched at her cheek, a constant habit that she did when she was nervous. _"Uhm, hey Sephie."_ Her indigo blue eyes looked straight into the camera. At the sound of her name, Seph looked up, her eyes connecting with the indigo blue that Joseph had inherited, shocking everyone but Steve and Natasha, who had done extensive research. It was almost uncanny at just how similar the colours were.

"Hey, Barbie." Seph whispered, answering her sister, despite the fact she was talking to a recording. She didn't care. Steve looked to his redhead, before his eyes turned back to Barbara.

 _"I can only assume that if you're watching this, then I've given this tape to you, because you've found out or something's happened to me and I'm no longer there for you. It's almost unthinkable, I know. But who know's what the future holds, right? You always tell me that."_ Barbara ran a hand through her hair, before her expression became serious, _"I'm sure you have a lot of questions and maybe they answer whatever predicament you're in and maybe they don't, but you deserve the truth, big sis."_ Barbara was called out of her seriousness when Seph heard herself screaming through the door to let her in for her date. Both sisters shared a light conversation to which the Avengers were astonished to see a young Persephone Brandt, looking carefree, young and mischievous, a far cry from what she was now.

The sister's altercation brought a ripple of her light-hearted chuckles from the Avengers, even from Seph. _"I hope you know that you're insufferable to live with."_ Barbara pointed to the camera, still giggling lightly and it brought a soft grin to Seph's face for an instant before it vanished and Barbara sobered, _"Persephone, whatever you do, whatever you feel as I'm telling you this, stay put, you need to hear all of this."_ Barbara warned, before taking a deep breath, looking up as if she was praying for strength and she settled, her eyes boring holes into Seph's.

 _"I had Joey five months ago. He was born in October of last year, we're seventeen now."_ Barbara updated and Seph nodded, _"I know you don't remember. But two weeks after Joey was born, Cameron came to the house, demanding that I give my son up for adoption. Mum and Dad weren't home. It was just you, me and the baby, but I knew you'd protect me."_ Seph's eyebrows crinkled. She didn't remember this at all. Cameron _never_ came to the house. He had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Joseph. She'd remember if that asshole had tried to strong-arm Barbara into _anything_ she didn't want to do. _"I know you must be confused, but hear me out."_ Barbara pleaded and she took another deep breath before continuing, _"We started to argue and you overheard us. You came outside to see Cameron grabbing me, hurting me, calling Joey such disgusting things-"_ Barbara choked on her words as her expression morphed into pain and tears shined in her eyes and Seph's lips trembled, her arms twitching. She just wanted to hold her close. _"I've never seen you get so enraged in all our years."_ Barbara held herself together as she continued but tears were slipping down her cheeks, _"I saw your eyes turn to this bright orange when you lunged for him. You knocked him off the porch and you held him down and just started punching him again and again and again and again."_ Barbara answered, shifting in her chair nervously as Seph's eyes widened.

How come she didn't remember _this?_

 _"Persephone, you hands caught fire, you were **burning** him with every punch. You were, like, roaring at him and the flames got higher and higher until you were completely covered and your hair. . it was redder than red." _Barbara described, almost entranced by what Seph couldn't even remember. Was this even true? _"The flames were so hot, I was too afraid to go even near you because I thought I'd get burnt."_ Barbara lifted a hand to her face, as if imagining flames around them.

All of the Avengers turned to look at Persephone, who was horrified at the implications, her eyes trained on her late sister. _"You looked like something out of Hell."_ Barbara's statement terrified Persephone, she knew she had problems controlling her temper and she didn't know what would happen if she lost control. But her _catching fire_? Seph's hand started to shake in fear and disbelief as she looked at Steve who started toward her but stopped as she shook her head and tried to take deep slow breaths as Barbara continued, _"Professor Xavier must have known something because he showed up out of nowhere and stopped you, he tried to contain you as best he could but it was almost impossible. You were out of control. You weren't Persephone. You weren't my insufferable big sister who secretly loved comic books and if she could, would marry Captain America if he rose from the dead."_ Barbara took a deep breath, her eyes closing as she started to get off track. " _Mum and Dad didn't have a choice, because this power that you have, was burning you up, you were dying."_ Barbara sobbed once, wiping at her tears as Seph's own tears started to make their own tracks. She was scared out of her mind. _"They had to lock your mutation in your mind, keep it dormant. . safe for the time being, it was too strong for you to handle and you had to forget what happened, otherwise, we could lose you again. Mum and Dad weren't taking the risk and frankly neither was I, so they agreed. You never knew what happened and you wouldn't burn up."_ Barbara's voice ended in a whisper as Seph's hand tightened into fists, rage bubbling inside her. _"Cameron's mind was also wiped and he was healed so he wouldn't remember. Please, Seph. Go to Xavier, get your head sorted out, remember what happened. You're strong enough to handle it, I know you are."_ Barbara pleaded into the camera, obviously knowing what was going through her big sister's head, " _Please, don't get mad and refuse help. Whoever's with you, if I'm not there . . . they can help you. God, don't be mad, big sis. You know I can't stand it when you're mad."_

Barbara ran a hand through her thick hair as Seph looked back up to the recording as Babs looked up into the screen, her eyes imploring and full of love. _"I love you, Persephone. Never forget that."_

The video stopped.

Silence remained.

Seph was rooted to the spot in which she stood, her fearful expression set in stone as she stared at the frozen image of her late sister.

"We got the results of Seph's blood test." Bruce spoke, everyone but Seph turning toward him as hazel eyes stared into unblinking indigo.

"What's the verdict?" Steve asked, his eyes flicking between Bruce and Seph, keeping tabs on the frozen woman.

Bruce hesitated, unsure of how to proceed, so he dug into his pocket and lifted the thin slide that had Persephone's blood. The blood had heated the slide to the point where it melted and created an odd shape where the glass had curled up, like it was portraying fire. "Seph's blood melted the slide." He described as everyone looked at the slide with disbelieving eyes. "Her blood heated itself to extreme temperatures before it melded itself into this shape. I've also done the tests. The Mutant X gene was easily found in the cells when I broke down each component. Whoever this _Hellfire_ is, they're right." Bruce concluded.

Steve was at a loss for words. Was she lying this entire time? Did she know who they were? All of her actions pointed the other way from the way she was acting, but during his time out of the ice and embracing this new world that he'd been thrust in; he'd encountered more fictitious individuals in the past three days than he ever did back when he was a kid and it unnerved him very much. It proved that trust was in short supply these days and a lot of people were looking after number one; themselves and that's it.

Could he be sure that she was absolutely genuine?

Was everything up to this point a lie?

The Avengers heard a soft thump and they all turned instantly to see Seph had fallen to her knees, her hands balling into fists as she crumpled into herself, sobbing silently. They watched her.

A guilty person would have left the moment their backs were turned, but she remained in place. Her fists hit the floor in and her silent sobs became loud wails, as her left fist hit the floor one last time, before she gave up. Her head resting on her hands as her entire body racked with every gasping breath.

Nat started forward and sat next to her, pulling a hysterical Seph in her arms, soothing her. "It's going to be alright, Persephone. You're going to be okay." She whispered in a shocked show of sensitivity that nobody, only Clint, knew that Natasha Romanov possessed. Seph clung to Natasha, sobbing her broken heart out as the tears rolled down her cheeks like a river.

Steve wanted to bang his head against his own shield.

He was doubting the only woman who had showed a genuine interest in _him_ and not his body since Peggy and he actually tried to make himself believe that she was the enemy despite her agony. His own stupid apprehensiveness since the war he still had to work out.

Walking toward the two women slowly, he bent to his knees and Natasha looked to Steve and he opened his arms for her, Seph's eyes were shut tight, and he couldn't see from back there, but Natasha was trying to stop her from digging her nails into her own arm, as if it was all just a bad dream. Steve wrapped his arms around the distraught woman and pulled her into his strong hold and nodded to Natasha before he walked out of the room without a word, starting to the guest room she was staying in.

Steve kicked the door shut behind them, asking JARVIS for privacy as he sat down on the bed, holding Persephone closer as she was now whimpering and breathing shakily, having calmed from her outburst. "Shh, Persephone. It's going to be okay. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out." Steve murmured, taking her hand and pulled it away from the abused flesh, seeing the deep crescent shaped indentations that her nails left. "Don't hurt yourself." He whispered, lifting her arm and his lips gently brushed against the injured skin, making the individual hairs start to prick upward and goosebumps to form.

"How can this be _real_? I don't even remember what Barbara is saying I did!" Seph sniffled, wiping at her tears as she looked up at the super-soldier with red puffy eyes, a blotchy face and trembling lips.

"I think that was the point of the tape, Persephone. To tell you what you didn't know in account of future events that are now in play. Your sister left it up to you to do the right thing, if she weren't here to guide you." Steve explained, "I have no experience with this kind of thing, but I can honestly say that I think your family wanted to protect you. You heard what Barbara said, your own mutation was killing you, it had to be locked to the point where you couldn't access it at all and the memory of it was locked with it as well. I think, even though you, right now, feel like this is a dream, it could be the key to helping us all. Maybe your mutation can unlock some theories that Tony and Bruce have. And if it was very done with no witnesses, how did _Hellfire_ even know about you?" Steve theorized, trying to make sense of the situation they'd been placed in.

"I guess I have to go back to Xavier, make him unlock it all." Seph's voice was steadier now, the tears drying against her skin and in her eyes.

"It's going to be dangerous for you. Are you sure your willing to take the risk?" Steve asked, his hand sliding to her cheek, cupping one side of her face.

"I need to do this, Steve. For Joey, for the others. . for you." Her hand ran along his, "if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten into all this mess."

Steve shook his head, before using his hand on her cheek to pull her head closer so their foreheads bumped gently, "don't. Don't beat yourself up over something you have no control over." His voice was steady, his eyes unblinkingly stern as he gazed down at her. "If it wasn't for you, I would never have danced. I wouldn't have gotten the chance to have one date with someone as amazing as you. Nor have the chance to spend this much time with you, despite all the obstacles." Steve explained, his eyes never wavering nor their close proximity separating, "and if we never met, and these people attacked you. . you wouldn't be here, so I'm thanking God, that we met at that bus stop."

Seph just stared at him, "you're being oddly romantic and sensitive." She murmured, a slight smile playing on her lips as he chuckled.

"I know, I'm not usually." Steve's eyes flickered to her lips, their panicked kiss still lingering. "Remember the kiss. . when you were-"

"-having a panic attack, yeah." Seph finished for him, "it's been on your mind too?"

"Yeah." Steve affirmed, his fingers sliding against her cheek, "I've been trying to-"

"-shh." Seph shushed him, her finger pressed to his lips to silence his sentence. "Don't say anything yet. Not yet. It's too soon and not the best of timing. When this is over, when we've either lost or won. . ." Seph took a deep breath before she continued, "tell me what you want to say then, okay?"

Seph was right, it would be too impulsive and incredibly poor timed for them to talk about the kiss now, not when she just found out she was a closet mutant, her family lied to her eleven years to keep her safe and alive and she was being hunted by a Soviet kill-squad who specialised in murdering influential or incredibly dangerous mutants.

It could wait-

for now.


	10. Chapter 10

_**7 A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **2** **, 661**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 10:**_

 ** _Floodgates_**

* * *

Joey sat in the lab on the metal slab, swinging his legs back and forth, waiting with the Professor and his Uncle Bobby. His Aunt was coming back for the Professor's help and they weren't going to be wasting any time. Whatever Aunt Seph found at their home; it was enough to shake her. When he spoke to her over the phone, she sounded so tired and defeated, he hadn't heard her like that since the funeral.

Joey rubbed his face with hands, whatever his aunt had been aware of. . . he'd stick by her.

The glass door opened due to the sensor and Joey's head snapped up toward it, to see Seph, pale with dark circles under her eyes, walking in with Steve and Natasha flanking her. "Aunt Seph!" Joey called, pushing off the slab and he ran to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and she held his tightly, pressing soft kisses to the crown of his head.

"Hey, buddy." She sighed, her voice croaky and exhausted.

"Miss. Brandt, welcome back. Did you find what you were looking for?" Professor Xavier greeted and Seph glared at him, unrestrained fury contorting her features. Bobby carefully stepped in front of the Professor.

"How could you do this to me?" She growled and Joey trembled at the anger in her voice, but he held on to her.

"It was a necessary evil to combat the war that was raging inside of you. You were dying, Miss. Brandt. Your parents were not going to lose you and I did the only thing I could." The Professor answered her, calmly.

"I shouldn't have been lied to for eleven years." Seph snarled.

"Persephone, calm down." Bobby ordered, needing her to have her wits about her. "Aunt Cora and Uncle Michael did what they thought was right. Nobody ever thought this could have happened. There was no way to suspect something like this could ever have happened to you, Seph." Bobby looked at her. "What did Barbara say to you?"

Joey stiffened at the sound of his mother's name and then he felt his own aunt stiffen. "She was hurting, she didn't want to keep it a secret from me. The video was a way for her to cope with the truth, to tell me in some form; even if present me wasn't aware. It was an outlet." Everyone looked at Seph in shock; even Charles.

"How did you come to that conclusion, Miss. Brandt?"

Seph's eyes turned to Charles, flashing. "She was my sister, Professor. I knew Barbara better than anyone; I knew what she was feeling in that video. I just knew."

"I see."

"Aunt Seph, what's happened?" Joey asked, looking up to his aunt.

Seph's head bent to lock eyes with Joseph and she sighed, her eyes closing briefly and she took his hand. "Can I just have a sec with him?" She asked and immediately, the crowd dispersed. Seph knelt before him, and slowly slipped her bag off her shoulder. "Okay, now what I'm going to give you is not to be taken lightly, understood?" She looked deep into his eyes and he nodded, unblinking as he stared back at her. Seph nodded once, "okay." She murmured quietly, reaching into her bag before she pulled out a CD case with a disc in it and rested it into his waiting palms.

"What's on it?" He asked, carefully turning it in his hands, inspecting it cautiously.

"Your mother." Seph answered truthfully, causing the small boy to snap his head to her, his eyes wide. "Your mother told me the truth of why this is all happening. I figured it'd be better for her to tell you, rather than me. Because I need to do something very important in here and when I come out, I want you to know that this doesn't change who I am. I am still your auntie. Okay?"

Joey nodded, clutching the case to his chest tightly. "C'mon, kid. I'll stay with you, it'll get boring in here." Nat said. "There won't be much for me to do if I'm here. I'll keep an eye on him and keep an eye out if there are any unwanted visitors thinking about knocking on the front door." She nodded to Seph who reciprocated. She gently pushed Joey in the direction of Black Widow and he walked toward the other red-headed woman before he turned to Seph.

"It'll be okay, Aunt Seph. You'll see." He gave her a gentle smile before the two walked out.

"God, I hope you're right." Seph muttered under her breath as she discarded her bag and jacket.

"Hey." Steve stood next to her, watching her.

"Yeah?" Seph stopped, her eyes finding his.

She looked exhausted.

"You know you don't have to do this right now. I mean, look at you! You look like you haven't had a wink of sleep! Look, I'll just go tell them you can do it another day, I'm not going to let you do it if it means you'll be hurt again, I mean-" Steve was starting toward Charles, intending on stopping the set up, before Seph shot out and grabbed the super-soldier's hand.

"I'll be okay." Seph gazed up at him with a hesitant yet confident gaze. "Steve, I need to do this." She pulled him closer, resting the back of his hand against her cheek. "I'll be fine. I promise." Steve's eyes softened and he sighed.

"Only if you're sure." Steve whispered and Seph closed her eyes peacefully, nodding in affirmation.

They broke apart from their hold as the professor levitated toward them in his wheelchair. "We're ready when you are, Miss. Brandt." He nodded to them and Seph reciprocated, before he moved back to the metal slab, which was covered with a mattress and a sheet with a pillow for comfort. It was obvious she was going to be lying down while he probed her brain.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road." Seph clapped her hands together and walked confidently over to Bobby and Charles as she took the initiative and lay down on the makeshift bed, resting her head on the soft pillow. "Could use two pillows." She teased Bobby who chuckled, before he bent down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Just. . come back, okay?" Bobby stressed.

"I'm not leaving you alone with Joey, you'll wreak havoc on the city. I'll definitely be back to make sure that, that doesn't happen." Seph joked, smiling before she turned her eyes to Steve, who was pacing, his eyes never leaving hers. "I know I said we'd discuss this after everything, but that kiss-" Steve stopped, freezing at her words as he watched her, "-even though poorly timed, was- is everything I need,"she corrected herself. "So, after this, I'd very much like to discuss our relationship and a possible reschedule of that kiss at a better time, in a more intimate setting." Her lips curled into a large grin as she winked at him and he chuckled.

"I'd very much like that." Steve moved closer so he towered over her and bent down, pressing his gentle lips on her forehead and her eyes fluttered closed, very faintly feeling his worry, apprehension and his frustration toward this procedure and her well being, but she also felt his tenderness and affection toward herself.

It put her to ease, knowing he felt the same things she did and his lips pulled away from her but her eyes remained closed, her lips trembling in fear of what was going to happen next. She heard the slight whir of the wheelchair as Charles hovered over her, his hands at the sides of her temples. "Now, Miss. Brandt, I am going to enter your mind and slowly start to break down the barrier. It could be painless, but it could also be immensely painful, I can't tell you for certain which." He warned her and she nodded, but remained silent. "Now, your ability will not have stopped progressing even though dormant, it will come at you full force and it may feel as if it is tearing you apart. Do you understand me, Miss. Brandt?" Seph nodded, her heart pounding in her chest.

 _"You must be strong, Persephone. You must fight it. Do not let it control **you**. Take control of_ **it** _._ "His voice whispered in her head and her silent affirmation was all he needed.

"Three. . .two. . . one."

His fingers pressed against her temples and her everything inside her exploded.

Seph's eyes burst open, her eyes blazing from their soft hazel to a furious glowing orange as she screamed, her entire body arching upward.

"Bobby!" The cryokinetic quickly raised his hand and the frost that was conjured; became restrains for Seph as she screamed, but her hands and legs were frozen to the bed as she kept screaming. It was taking all of Steve's willpower not to run toward her and pull her close. She was in so much pain.

His girl was in pain.

(..)

 _"What the hell do you think you're doing, Cameron?" Seph growled, forcefully pulling his tight hold away from her sister's arm._

 _"Get lost, Persephone. This is between me and Barbara." Cameron snarled back, but Persephone was persistent and pushed him away from Barbara. "Thinking of putting my nephew up for adoption, were you?"_

 _"I don't want that kid anywhere near me!" Cameron screamed, his eyes wild and full of disgust at the thought of Joseph. "That bitch did this to me. She got pregnant on purpose!" Barbara sobbed as Seph's anger started to bubble, her blood boiling and her temperature rising._

 _"No! I didn't! Neither of this meant to happen! You didn't put on a condom, Cam!" She cried out, making the young boy grab her arm once again, his hand tightening._

 _"You did this! I don't want a kid!" He snarled._

 _"Please, Cam! You're hurting me!" Barbara pleaded, trying to pull away._

 _"Let go of her!" Seph growled, grabbing his wrist but she didn't see it coming. Cameron had used his free hand and smacked Seph across the face, making her careen in to the wall of the house, before his hold returned to Barbara, gripping her biceps, too close to her throat._

 _"You're going to put this kid up for adoption, do you understand me? Or I'll do it myself!"_

 _Seph's control on her anger snapped and her head whipped toward the boy, blood dripping from her split lip._

 _With a battle cry, she lunged for Cameron, both of them flying off the porch, her eyes blazing as she scrambled on top of him, dodging his flailing limbs and she restrained him with one arm and started beating him senseless with the other._

 _She couldn't hear Barbara, nor Cameron's pleas for her to stop._

 _All she could feel was the fire inside her, projecting out. Burns adorned his face as she beat her sister's abusive boyfriend to a pulp. His facial bones cracking underneath her knuckles as she continued to pound at him._

 _Flames overtook her body and her hair blazed a deep red and at that point, she was ethereal. She represented her namesake's husband as Cameron lay beneath her, barely conscious as her mouth opened and she roared an ear-splitting, inhuman sound that sounded like an animal than the beautiful flames that surrounded her. One fiery hand dug around his throat and the other poised to strike._

 _Then everything went black._

(..)

Charles was pushed back from her mind as Seph quietened down, shaking slightly. The barrier was fragile from all of the emotional trauma Persephone had undergone and as soon as he probed. . the floodgates had evaporated and her power was released. There was no doubt she remembered the awakening of her powers now, but the question remained now, was what would happen. Her powers were powerful, incredibly so. Maybe she could even be of a level as an Omega mutant. He had learnt a little of what Seph's abilities could do and the results were devastating. Maybe she'd never reach the full potential of her power, or she'd become the power.

The restraints melted and Bobby tried to reinforce them, but his mutation wasn't strong enough as the restraints he conjured began to melt at a faster rate.

"What's happening?!" Steve demanded, wanting answers.

"Something isn't right. ." Charles surmised as they looked to Seph, the air now bending around her as if intense heat was distorting the air around her. "We need to go now! We need to contain her!"

"What, why?!" Steve asked, keeping his ground.

"She's become unstable! Her mutation is out of her control!"

Seph's body was suddenly encased in an aura of flames as she started to scream, the bed catching fire and it too went up.

" _PERSEPHONE!"_ Steve screamed, but he couldn't even reach her, the fire was too hot.

" _GET DOWN!_ " Bobby roared, creating a shield with his abilities just as the lab erupted, Seph's screams lost in the loud roar of the fire she had conjured and the explosion that followed.

(..)

Steve broke through Bobby's shield with one swift punch, Persephone's uncontrollable fire having weakened it as he observed the blackened and destroyed laboratory before he ran to the melted metal that was once the bed and held no Persephone. His head snapped to the left where, along the wall, was now a gaping hole with scorched footsteps on the grass.

The super-soldier whirled around and strode to Bobby, grabbing him by the lapels of his shirt and lifted him up from his feet, "where could she have gone!?" He roared.

Bobby was at a loss for words, running through millions of possibilities in his mind.

"She'd go to the one place she'd feel safe. She's visiting the one person who could give her some headspace." Charles spoke tiredly, defeated at how little he was able to help. He'd only unleashed her power and made her feel guilty. Steve turned his head to the man in the wheelchair, dropping the Iceman as he stood back, creating space between them as Charles looked to Bobby. "I sent a message to Jean, she was able to create a forcefield around the school, it only impacted in here. Nobody saw Persephone upstairs. Joseph and Miss. Romanoff are safe, though both have been informed and are worried. You should make sure they are put to ease and that Captain. Rogers will find Persephone, she should not be left alone." Bobby nodded to Charles and Steve, knowing the older man was worried and panicked about Seph and the display of her power.

It was a miracle he wasn't running away.

As Bobby left, Steve looked to Charles, who sighed. "The one place she'd feel safe, gone to the one person who can make her feel safe and relaxed." Steve mused, before he tensed and his eyes widened as he looked to Charles.

"I'm afraid I only reopened Persephone's wounds, I am so sorry." Charles apologised sincerely.

Steve's face steeled, "it's not me who you should be apologizing to," Steve turned and walked toward the large hole that had been exploded through the wall and walked out. "She's gone to the cemetery."


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **2** **, 149**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11:**_

 ** _Strength_**

* * *

It wasn't hard to find Seph.

Steve followed the scorch marks where her feet had taken their path and it led him to where she was sitting opposite her family's grave, looking at the picture of Barbara on the gravestone, tears making their own tracks down the expanse of her blotchy face, her singed and damaged clothing hung off her in tatters as she hugged her knees to her chest, sniffling as her bare feet twitched and her toes dug deeper into the grass.

Steve fell to the ground next to her, sitting next to her and he studied her.

There was now flaming aura shrouding around her, her body heat was normal, her hair was still the same chestnut red, her skin, though covered in dirt and soot, was unharmed, her face, though blotchy from the tears, was also unharmed. She was physically okay, but her eyes, though now their original and beautiful hazel, carried a shadow of darkness. He had seen that many times before.

In his own mirror.

She had watched someone close to her die.

"It was my fault, you know?" Seph spoke suddenly, sniffling.

"What was?" Steve's eyebrows furrowed.

"My sister's death. It was my fault." Persephone revealed, her breath catching in her throat as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"No, Persephone. God, no. Your sister's death was not your fault." Steve turned to her, his hands gently sliding over her delicate shoulders as he turned her body to him and she looked into his eyes, the shadow taking over.

"You weren't there, Steve. Well, you were, but not where Barbara and I were during that terrible battle." Seph shuddered, as she looked down and shock coursed through Steve.

It had been two years since Seph lost all of her family. She was suffering from anxiety over it and she must have only recently started to come to term with her PTSD, though her mind and emotions were still incredibly fragile. It wouldn't take much to unsettle them.

This would have done it.

"The invasion. ." Steve's lips barely moved as the words passed in a breathless whisper between his teeth, his blue eyes wide.

Seph nodded, confirming his fears as she looked up at him, "we were taking refuge in an already busted place when the building next to us fell, the one which was protecting my parents as we couldn't get them, there was an alien outside. . . I did what I had to. It didn't turn out quite like I planned." Seph whispered, her heart and mind opening to the Captain as she took his hand and their eyes connected as Seph took a deep breath.

(..)

 _Seph had been thrown into the wall by one of the Chitauri. She was bleeding and broken, her ripped and blood soaked clothes covered in rubble and crushed grain of the stones as she coughed blood, scrambling to get away. None of those heroes were coming to Seph's rescue. Seph grunted in pain as she slowly got up, the reptilian Chitauri soldier watched over her, laughing as the amusing lower life form limped and dragged itself back into to the building, in some attempt of rescue mission, but it was all for naught as the alien could not detect any signs of life._

 _But all it could read was the heat signatures of the deceased bodies in the building._

 _"Mum. . .Dad!" Seph called, trying to reach her parents, tears trekking down her cheeks as she slowly and painfully tried to make her way to the blown out wall, but the higher life form was having none of it. It readied its staff and swung it hard, digging it into Seph's stomach, making her fly back further than any normal human could possess without the enhanced strength. Seph cried out as she fell to the floor hard, sobbing in frustration and pain. She was useless!_

 _The Chitauri soldier threw the staff. It was bored, it wanted something more fun to do now. This thing had amused it for long enough. It was time to end. It unsheathed its rifle._

 _"NO!" Seph heard her scream, saw her chestnut brown hair fly as she ran out of the building as fast as she could. Indigo blue eyes glimmering with tears as she ran in front of her battered sister, taking the shot that was meant for Seph._

 _Barbara flew back, crashing to the floor, silent and unmoving and Seph watched her, unblinking, her heart breaking as her sister's light breaths started to slow. She needed to get there. She needed her sister._

 _Without even realizing, Seph was up, agony lancing through her with every step from the possible broken bones and gashes and bruises. But it wasn't stopping her, she wasn't losing her sister. It just wasn't going to happen._

 _The Chitauri fell the the ground suddenly, lifeless, but Persephone didn't notice._

 _She dropped to her knees, beside Barbara and gently rolled her over, indigo blue eyes were wide, tears rolling down her cheeks as Seph looked down. Her sister's stomach had been blown through. The sight was gory, disgusting and it made her stomach turn, her head whirl her heart rip apart just looking at it, but she had to be strong, for her sister. For Barbara, she had to be strong. Seph ripped her jacket off, pressing it firmly to the large wound, trying to stop the blood flow, but it was soon soaking through the jacket. On her hands and all over the older Brandt._

 _"It's going to be okay, Babs. T-the ambulance are going to come and get you. They're going to put a band-aid on it and it's going to be all better. You'll see. It's not even that bad, sweetheart, there's no reason for you to be so dramatic." Seph babbled, her watery vision blurring the image of a bloody Barbara._

 _"S-Seph. ." Barbara whispered, looking up with tired eyes. She couldn't pretend anymore, "please, protect Joseph. Protect my baby boy. ANY way you c-can." Barbara gargled, grabbing Seph's bloody hand tightly._

 _"I will, Barbara, don't worry. He'll be the safest boy on the Earth." Seph sobbed, taking Barbara's hand and kissing her palm._

 _"I-I love y-you. . Persephone. . I love you so much." Barbara wheezed, trying to breathe around the blood filling her lungs, but all that did was make her cough blood._

 _"I love you too, Babs. I love you too." Seph sobbed, her tears splashing onto Barbara's cheek, her head dipping down to kiss her sister's forehead._

 _Barbara's hand loosened._

 _Her breathing stopped._

 _"No. . no, no, no, no. ." Seph murmured over and over, moving back to see her unseeing eyes. Lifeless eyes. "Oh, God. Barbara!" Seph called, tapping her cheek gently in a fruitless attempt. "Barbara, come on! Wake up!" Seph shook Barbara but to no avail and Seph sobbed once, pulling her sister's lifeless body to her chest, ignoring the throbbing pain in her body as she cried, rocking Barbara back and forth until she lost control of her emotions._

 _"BARBARA!_ "

(..)

"I honestly don't know how long I was there with Barbara, it's all hazy from that point on. I don't even remember how I found out my parents died, it's all just one massive blur. I can just hear Joey's voice, screaming and hollering about how much he hated me for taking his Mum away from him that it was all my fault and I . . I believed him. I mean, if it wasn't for my stupidity, she'd be here." Seph wiped at her tears, sniffling once again just as Steve's arm wrapped around Seph's shoulder, even though she tried to pull away, for fear that her power might suddenly flare up. . but it didn't. Steve pulled her into his chest and held her as close as physically possible in the position they were in and his arms wrapped around her tightly.

"What you did, was more than what a lot could have done in that situation. You were outmatched in every aspect, but you pushed on. As for Barbara, she made her choice with full knowledge that she was going to lose her life so you'd keep yours, that isn't your fault." Steve spoke with conviction, his chin resting on the crown of her head.

"But if I didn't run out there-"

"How sure are you that Barbara wouldn't have run out there and put herself through the same predicament as you? How sure are you that you _wouldn't_ have run after her and protected her as much as you could've, like you wanted her to? I believe that if _she_ was the one that was facing an alien and about to be receiving the finishing blow, that you would have rushed out as she did and jumped in front of the energy blast." Steve answered seriously, pulling back to look into her eyes which were filling with tears. "Stop blaming yourself for something that you had no control over. Trust me, I know what it feels like to go through so many different scenarios in your head, imagine what you could have done differently, take this route and you stop that. But reality doesn't have rewind button and we can't keep trying to invent one to stop a traumatic experience. I _know,_ Persephone." Steve's hand caressed her cheek, wiping away the constant tears, "with everything that's happened to you over these past few days and now this, it's having a toll on you and if we don't help you curb your mutant abilities, it's only going to get worse and I don't want that hanging over your head." Steve was gentle in his words and she knew he was speaking the truth.

"How do I come back from this, Steve? From all of this?" Seph gestured to the gravestone and to herself, "there is no way to come back from a train wreck like this and be myself again!"

"You were beginning to when we first met," Steve answered her and Seph's eyes widened, "you were beginning to bounce back, get into a normal routine, come back to being yourself. It takes small steps, not leaps and bounds. Your mutant abilities don't change who you are, they shape who you will become later on. Your past will make you stronger as it did last time. You want to come back to being closer to yourself? You need to take small steps and pave your own way as you did last time."

Seph's eyes softened as her hands slid up and gripped at his soot covered and damp shirt, tightening it in her fists as she took a ragged breath. "Will you be there with me? I don't think I can do this on my own."

"I'll be there every step of the way. We all will be." Steve affirmed strongly, looking deep into her eyes, "Joey too. He doesn't hate you, Seph. He loves you and he will be there for you also. Your family and your friends. We will be there by your side, helping." Seph nodded, one stray tear dripping from her eye and down her cheek as she nodded.

"Thank you." She whispered softly, closing the distance in a tight hug.

But the overshadowing question remained in Steve's mind, and he decided to voice it, "why didn't you blame us? Hate us? Resent us for not being there when you needed us?" Steve asked apprehensively and expected her to pull away sharply, but her hold tightened around him.

"I wanted to. Desperately. I wanted to pin it all on you and never look back." Seph whispered, her fingers playing with the back of his head, running along the blonde strands of his hair. "But I couldn't, because it wasn't any of your fault. None of you could have possibly known what was going on and I didn't have the energy to hate anyone at the time, still don't." Seph answered, pulling back slightly to look up at him, "answer your question? Now don't you start beating yourself up, too."

Steve sighed and nodded before he looked back up into her eyes, "ready to go back to the tower?"

Seph turned to look at the gravestone for one long moment before she nodded.

"Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

_**uA/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **2** **, 360**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 12:**_

 ** _Worries_**

* * *

Seph lay in the bed that Tony had lent to her in the Tower and she sighed loudly, resting her arms underneath her head as she looked up at the ceiling, unable to sleep as she blinked slowly up at the tall roof, the moonlight shining over certain parts, separating the rest of it from the darkness.

Among the darkness, she could only see sharp indigo eyes framed by dark long lashes. All she could see, was Barbara's eyes, staring back at her, _'am I doing a good job, Barbara? Raising Joey in such a dangerous environment? Did you know this would happen and trusted me to keep him protected?'_ she thought as she stared unblinkingly in those eyes, _'how can I look after an eleven-year-old boy when I can't even take care of myself right now? I've probably lost my jobs and his teachers are more than likely worried about him. How can I support him or even keep him safe? How?!'_ Seph was ripped from her worries as there was a soft knock on the door. Barbara's eyes receded into the recesses of her subconscious once again.

"Uh, yeah?" Seph asked, digging the heels of her palms into her eye sockets until she saw patterns before she let her hands fall away as the door opened and Joey's head popped from the ajar door and he sniffled. "Joey? What's the matter, honey?"

Joey slid into the room and closed the door before he ran and jumped on the bed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders tightly, shocking his aunt as she wrapped her arms around his small body and she heard him whimper.

"Mum hates me, doesn't she?" Joey asked, his head nestled in her the crook of her neck.

Seph's heart stopped as she tightened her arms, tears springing to her eyes, "no." Her voice was firm. "Your mother could never hate you. Do you understand me, Joseph Michael Brandt? _Never._ "

Joey's head lifted from his place and he looked into her eyes, watery indigo blue staring into swimming hazel, "after what I've done to you? The video Mum made-"

"I forgive you, Joseph. If I can do that, you shouldn't worry about your mum, alright. If I can forgive you, then she definitely would. I'm her twin sister, remember?" Seph smiled gently, tapping at her chest, right over her heart. "Babs may be gone, but I can still feel her and I can tell you right now, she could never hate you, sweetheart." Seph held her nephew close as his shoulders shook and she pulled the covers over him and lay down, still cuddling him close to her chest. "It's okay, Joey. It's alright."

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Seph!" Joseph sobbed, tightening his hold around her neck as she let him, rubbing his back and soothing him with soft words. She took a few tissues and wiped at his eyes, catching his tears. "I'm so sorry!"

Rocking him gently, Joseph's sobs started to quieten down as he listened to her steady heartbeat, his eyes starting to get heavier and heavier until he was asleep and Seph kissed his brown hair.

"I forgive you."

(..)

Seph panted, gripping at her knees as her ribs expanded with her lungs.

Steve was off to one corner of the ring, wiping his brow with a towel that he draped back over the guard and came toward Seph with a large bottle of water, unscrewing the cap for her before handing it to her gently as she breathlessly thanked him before she attacked the refreshing liquid.

"Easy," he guided her, "small sips, I don't want you to get a stitch or make yourself feel sick. We still have a lot of ground to cover." Seph slowed her pace and took small sips of the offered beverage before handing it back to Steve.

"Jesus!" She whined gently, "how long have we been training?"

"Five minutes." Steve answered, chuckling as she groaned in exhaustion. "You need to build up stamina. We did go for that run this morning. You're doing very well for only being at it for a couple of days. Stance." Steve ordered and Seph put up her hands, her feet shoulder-width apart and she jabbed at Steve who dodged and blocked easily.

"Anything new from our guests?" Seph asked, dodging a right hook from Steve and she responded with a quick jab to his ribs.

"Good," he praised her, "and Natasha is getting quite a bit of information from them, she's very persuasive. Tony's gotten some information from their facial scans and from just generally searching for Hellfire. It'll take a while to weed out the theories based on speculation and rumor. It's bad enough there's lots of that, considering it's _supposed_ to be a myth." Steve dropped and swept his leg under hers, but Seph was ready and jumped.

As Steve got up, she kicked her leg up high and with perfect form and precision, she flicked her leg toward his face, speeding quickly, but she didn't get her hopes up. Steve was quicker than her and could see her move coming from a mile away, he protected his face with his arm and with his free hand, grabbed her ankle and pulled her forward sharply. Seph lost her footing and fell to the floor of the ring, flat on her back as she looked up at him. "You know it's next to impossible for me to land a legitimate blow on you unless you want me to for moral support."

Steve sighed, slowly pulling her up, "you caught me." He chuckled, "though, I am very proud of you. Not one outbreak so far."

"I'm worried." Seph answered, making Steve's smile slip, "I'm not holding anything back. It's not like I feel as if my power is going to burst through my control if I don't get a handle on it . . . it's almost like it's . . . waiting for something." Seph looked at her hands, which were normal, if a little red and blistered, "and what worries me is that. . I don't know what it is."

(..)

Seph let the boiling water of the shower rain down on her naked back, loosening the tight knots and washed away the sweat that stuck to her skin as she continued to stare at her hands.

Why wasn't her mutation uncontrollable as they all first thought?! Why was it lying in wait after eleven years of confinement?

It was scaring her.

Seph had observed everyone when her and Steve came back to the Avengers Tower. Nobody treated her different, no one walked on eggshells around her. She knew Tony had already fitted his suits with counter measures and revamped the entire Tower so it was mutation-friendly and updated JARVIS' protocols for any and all Persephone related situations. Joey didn't treat her any different, just as she had asked of him and his eyes were even more unguarded around her now more than ever.

Natasha and the rest of the Avengers didn't treat her any differently than before. They understood her and knew that her power wasn't something she necessarily wanted.

Seph growled, frustrated. "Damn it!" She hit the tile wall, pain lancing through her knuckles but she refused to acknowledge it, breathing hard as the water pelted down on her, plastering her hair flat against her scalp.

 _"Persephone? Are you alright?"_ Steve's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door. She could feel his worry.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry to worry you, Steve." Seph called out to him.

"Okay. ." Steve spoke through the door, before she heard his steps receding deeper into her bedroom, but she didn't hear the door close, though. He was waiting for her.

Seph sighed, quickly washing her body and hair before she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body and she towel dried her hair until it was damp enough to be air dried quickly, she changed into her underwear, bed shorts and tank top before walking out, seeing Steve sitting on the small armchair, looking up at her. "Hey," he murmured, standing respectfully in the presence of a lady.

Seph smiled gently at his old-fashioned mannerisms that she highly respected, sitting on the bed, her legs folding underneath her as she centered herself against the headboard, her smile slipping from her lips, "I'm worried. My abilities flared up when I was in extreme pain or in extreme anger." She lifted her hand upward to her face, inspecting it. "I was so angry when Cameron hurt Barbara and the absolute pain I felt when I remembered it all. . I calmed down when I was at their graves." Seph took in a deep, shaky breath. "Whatever's happening to me. . .it's crazy. I can feel emotions all around me."

"Wait, what do you mean, emotions?"

"It's so weird. . I've always been able to sort of figure out a person's emotions, like if they were happy, I could feel the depth of their happiness, and if they were trying to hide their pain through a smile. . I always knew how badly hurt they were emotionally. But now, with the awakening of my abilities, I can _feel_ every single emotion and I can pinpoint all the times that a memory called for that emotion." Seph looked up to see Steve settling himself next to her, staring into her eyes intently.

"What am I feeling, Persephone?" Steve whispered, leaning closer to her and she sighed.

Seph raised her hands and framed his face with them, closing her eyes and allowing his emotions to flood her senses. She could feel them when the individual was near, but it was as if she _knew_ that skin to skin contact gave her the clearest reading.

"Worry." She murmured quietly, "that's the profound emotion I can sense." Her eyes glazed over slowly, "worry over me. . worry that the Professor's procedure won't work," Steve's eyes widened slightly, "worry. . that you won't be able to stop the invasion. . .worry that you'll never see Peggy again."Steve's heart jolted in his chest. She was seeing his _past worries._ Seph's brows furrowed slightly, "worry over Bucky as he lies on the stretcher. . . you don't know what they did to him," her body started to warm, her hair slowly becoming redder from the roots and spread throughout and her eyes slowly brightened into orange, "worry. . . over her." Steve pulled back instinctively, not wanting to hear anymore as he shook softly, running a trembling hand over his face. "I'm sorry if I unsettled you. . .you asked me to!" Seph said, her hair having returned to its chestnut red, her eyes hazel and her skin having returned to its natural temperature.

The glow from her hands faded and she lowered them slowly. Steve took deep breaths to calm himself down before responding to her, "it's okay. I was just-"

"-thrown off." Seph finished, having picked up on his feelings.

Steve nodded, "yeah." Seph gazed at Steve, his expression sad and conflicted. Seph sighed, leaning up and she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, pulling him closer into a gentle hug. Steve's arms came around her small waist and he rested his head underneath her chin. It felt like she was cradling a large, muscular baby, apart from the fact that it was _Captain America_. Her long time hero/historical crush that had supposedly died while putting the Red Skull's plane, full of nuclear warheads that would take out the country in the ocean, sacrificing himself. Only to be found over seventy years later, perfectly preserved and _alive._

Never say dreams don't come true.

Seph and Steve sighed at the same moment as she pressed her lips to his blonde hair, which was parted just like the old 1940's style. She liked it on him, no matter that it was outdated.

At least nobody tricked him into getting half of his hair shaved off, like most of the kids were these days.

Steve breathed in her perfume, which he had committed to memory, it was a gentle scent, not overpowering like many women he had met since he returned from his long rest. It was calming and well, he was shy to admit this part, but also arousing to him. She smelt like a warm spring day. The soft scent of rain in the air, mixing with the sweet aroma of blossoming flowers. The weird part about it, was that she wasn't wearing _any_ perfume, this was just her natural odour and he loved it. If Steve had met her during his formative years, he probably would have had an asthma attack because he'd be taking too many deep breaths to take in her scent completely. That had he'd be thanking God because he had found a gorgeous woman who loved him, despite all of his health issues and small form.

Steve sighed, tapping his hipbone before he pulled away from her embrace, kissing her forehead. "I'll let you rest. Big day tomorrow." He stood up from the bed as Seph frowned.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Seph asked, flopping back on the bed as she crossed her legs underneath her bottom.

"Tomorrow, we'll be taking over Tony's gym for the day. We'll be testing your powers." Steve winked over to her before he left her room, the door shutting gently.

"Is that. . .such a good idea?" Seph mused to herself in the empty room, looking down at her hands once again. _'Will I be able to keep my powers under control?'_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **2** **, 566**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 13:**_

 ** _Anger is also a Powerful Emotion_**

* * *

Seph jumped out of the way of Bobby's ice beam, groaning as she rubbed the flakes off her shoulders, trying to generate heat back into her joint as she shivered. She was always so sensitive to the cold, ever since she was sixteen, which probably was due to her hidden mutation and she moved back, standing straight as she panted.

The Avengers and Joey were standing back, away from the line of fire as Bobby sighed, "you need to fight back, Seph." He said, his hands starting to ice over slowly.

"I can't get close enough!" Seph yelled in frustration, "you try to turn me into an ice sculpture every time I get close!"

"How did you access your powers last time?" Natasha asked from behind the safe-zone.

"I was in a lot of pain and remembering forgotten memories, I can't exactly recall what sparked my mutation." Seph answered sarcastically, dodging another ice beam.

"Try using a powerful memory." Tony suggested.

"What do you think that's going to accomplish for me?" Seph asked, standing still and she closed her eyes, concentrating.

"The stronger the memory, the stronger your feelings are toward it. Think of a happy memory. Happiness is a powerful emotion, or so I've heard." Bruce answered, shrugging.

Seph sighed, concentrating on her happiest memories.

 _"Daddy!"_ _A three-year-old Persephone called, her little backpack bouncing on her back as she sprinted as fast as her little legs could carry her toward her beloved father and away from her kindergarten. Michael held his arms out for his baby-girl as he lifted her into his arms and embraced her in his strong, fatherly arms, making the little Brandt feel safe and secure as Barbara ran toward her mother, getting the same treatment._

Bobby threw another ice-beam toward Seph and without opening her eyes, her hands lifted protectively in front of herself and the flames that sprung from her elbows out to the tips of her fingers, created a half-dome around her body, protectively shielding her, but it wasn't strong enough and the ice broke through and slammed straight into Seph's chest. She was flung off her feet and she landed on her back, shivering violently as her skin started to turn into a pale blue from the sub-zero temperatures Bobby emitted, before her body temperature rose to battle the cold conditions almost instantly.

"You almost got it, Aunt Seph!" Joey called on from behind Steve, his body half out as he fist-pumped the air enthusiastically.

"Maybe the memory wasn't strong enough, Persephone. What was it about?"

"I thought about my first day at kindergarten; my parents had come to pick Babs and I up and I just remember running to my Dad and seeing him made me so happy and when he hugged me. . . it felt like it was the safest I could ever be." Seph shakily got to her feet, rubbing her stomach, wiping the flecks of frost from her tank top.

"It was strong, but not strong enough. Think of something that had more of a significant impact in your life."

Seph took a deep breath and her eye caught a nervous Joseph.

Her nephew. Her only nephew that she loved with all her heart and wanted to protect more than anything in the world, from the day he was born.

Seph closed her eyes once more.

 _"Here, honey. You'll need to put these on, okay?" The nurse was kind and handed Seph a pair of scrubs and the sixteen-year-old quickly changed before walking to her sister's side, shaking as they prepped her for birth._

 _"H-hey, Babs." Seph's voice shook as she took Barbara's hand and her twin squeezed hard as another contraction felt like it was ripping through her. "Breathe, Babs. Look at me and breathe, just like all those classes taught you." Barbara turned to her sister and saw wide hazel eyes connect with hers as they breathed through the pain together._

 _The pain subsided as Seph wiped the sweat from Barbara's forehead, "good job, Barbie."_

 _"I'm glad I asked. . you. . to come." Barbara panted hard, holding her sister's hand tighter. Seph's fingers were going blue but she didn't take any heed. Her forefront most thought was of Barbara and her soon-to-be-born baby._

 _Seph smiled gently, "have you ever gone wrong with me?"_

 _"Okay, Barbara, you're fully dilated. In a few moments, I'm going to ask you to push, okay?" The head doctor spoke quickly, sitting in front of Barbara's spread legs as both Brandt twins nodded, readying themselves emotionally and mentally. Barbara gripped Seph's hand tighter and Seph squeezed back, keeping a firm hold on her sister as she slid her free arm underneath her sister's shoulder, propping her head up so she was a little more comfortable and the nurses that stood by smiled at the sibling love. "Alright now, Barbara, push!"_

 _Seph had never heard such an unholy roar come out of Barbara's throat as she pushed as hard as her body would allow._

 _With the doctor's prompts to push and the baby feeling like it wasn't budging at all, Barbara was livid, sweaty and growling like a wild animal, "get this damn baby out of me!" She roared, "are you even doing your job right?!" Barbara screamed as she pushed as hard as she could, panting hard as she set her burning gaze on Seph, who gulped. "And what about you?! Shouldn't you be cheering me on?!"_

 _"Hey!" Seph yelled back, not taking her sister's crap, momentarily forgetting she was only acting this way due to her hormones and pain, "zip it! If you want a cheerleader, go call Amy and she'll start spelling letters with her body. I'm the only one here, sister. Don't forget that, I'm the one watching you push my nephew out from your lady parts, so don't start on me just because I feel like fainting and I can't afford to lose anymore oxygen before my brain completely shorts out!" Seph's face was red as she slowly sucked air into her starving lungs._

 _It took a moment before everyone in the delivery room was laughing, including Seph and Barbara._

 _After that, it wasn't long._

 _"One more push, Barbara! Push as hard as you can, you're doing great!" The doctor encouraged from his place in between Babs' legs, aiding the baby to come out._

 _Barbara screamed in exertion as she pushed as hard as her body would allow, crushing Seph's hand in the process, before she slumped against the bed, panting as both twins heard the beautiful sound of the newest member of the Brandt family crying._

 _"It's a boy!" The doctor called, holding the crying newborn for both sisters to see. Barbara sobbed in happiness as she looked upon her son with wide, wonderful eyes._

 _"Miss. Brandt, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?" One of the nurses looked to Seph, holding a pair of medical scissors._

 _Seph nodded shakily, pressing a gentle kiss to Barbara's sweaty forehead before pulling away and she walked toward her newborn nephew, tears in her eyes and she took the scissors from the nurse. "Thank you." She thanked the nurse before turning to the baby and she cut the umbilical cord, just as they baby jerked and whined. Seph jumped back, horrified, "d-did I hurt him?!"_

 _"No, not at all. He's just a little uncomfortable. I'll clean him up." The midwife assured Seph before she took the newborn and proceeded to clean him as Seph returned to Barbara's side._

 _Minutes passed as the midwife returned with a wriggling bundle of blue in her arms and she passed the baby to Seph._

 _Persephone quickly took hold of her nephew, marveling at how tiny he was and she cradled him to her bosom like a precious jewel as the tears finally overflowed, splashing onto the blue cloth beside his tiny head as she walked over to Barbara. "He's so beautiful, Babs," Seph's voice trembled, sniffling as she kissed his little forehead, revelling in his unique baby scent and she slowly and gently set him down and Barbara held her son for the first time, erupting into sobs._

 _"Hi, baby." Barbara whispered, running her fingertip gently down his cheek, "I'm your mummy and this is your Auntie Seph." The newborn slowly opened his eyes and indigo blue eyes stared into their genetic twin._

 _He had his mother's eyes._

 _"Welcome to the family, my sweet little nephew." Seph whispered, running her fingers through the short tufts of brown hair._

 _"Hi there, Joseph. My Joseph Michael Brandt." Barbara whispered, before she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, welcoming her child into the world._

Seph raised her arms, her hair bright red as her expression was peaceful, serene even as the flames burned brighter and her lower arms were engulfed in flames once again and from her palms, it spread and created a half-dome around her again.

Bobby grunted in exertion as he rained an ice storm around her, but the flame dome was holding and as Seph opened her eyes, they were a piercing orange and she laughed in joy. "I did it!" The cryokinetic quickly halted his attack and Seph, now that there was no threat to her, the flames dissipated and she hugged Bobby tight as the Avengers congratulated Seph.

Steve and Joseph ran to Seph and she hugged them both tight, happy for the first time in days.

"I'm so happy for you, Persephone. Maybe the reason your power never sparked was because your emotional levels were never high enough for it to actually become a problem for you." Steve theorized, kissing the top of her head gently, smiling.

"Maybe." Seph agreed, holding both of her boys close.

"What did you think about?" Tony asked, cutting the family feel to the three's group hug.

"Um," Seph started, looking down at Joey, who too was excited to know, "I thought about the day Joey was born. I was in the delivery room with Barbara, I was the first person to hold him from the family." Seph stated proudly as Joseph blushed bright red, hiding his face in his hands.

"Aunt Seph!" He whined, his voice muffled by his palms, making them all laugh.

"Looks like you have a memory to hold on to." Bruce murmured, smiling gently.

 _"Sir, there has been a breach in security."_ Everyone looked to Tony as the billionaire whipped out his phone, looking for the problem.

"What's happening, buddy?"

 _"Someone is attacking my systems, I am unable to stop them. They are using some sort of firewall, it's codes are changing rapidly. I cannot decode fast enough to shut it down. I am unable to access the necessary security protocols."_ JARVIS' voice was as calm as ever, but Tony wasn't. He was rapidly clicking on his phone, sifting through the camera's.

Seph pulled Joseph close to her and he wrapped his arms around her waist as Steve stood in front of them protectively. Tony's eyes widened and his fingers ceased their movements as he looked up the group, "the prisoners are dead. When they hacked into JARVIS which _should_ be impossible, but they've goddamn done it." Tony's eyes went wide before he threw his phone across the room, making Joey flinch as the phone clattered to the ground. "We're blind, they've cut all the cameras."

The Avengers huddled together as Steve stood in front of Seph, intending on protecting her as well as Bobby

Persephone looked down at her horrified nephew and rage sparked within her.

Hellfire would kill to get Persephone and they almost succeeded last time by trying to take Joseph.

Her _nephew._

She wouldn't let that happen again.

Never.

Joseph sobbed into her chest, but the sound was drowned out by the explosion of the wall in front of them.

Fight fire with fire.

Time slowed to a stop as Seph pulled away from Joseph, running her fingers through his hair one more time before she took the center, in front of them all as the explosion rocked toward them, fire and debris hurtling toward Joseph.

Seph didn't care if she was hurt.

The only thing on her mind was to protect her friends and family.

The anger overtook her and all of the memories flooded her mind:

 _The day her powers awakened._

 _The day of the invasion where everything changed._

 _The anger and desperation that she was blamed for her family's demises._

 _The anger at her weakness._

 _The day she was attacked on her first date with Steve._

 _The anger at the fact that Joey had been targeted because of her._

 _The day she found the video._

 _The day she rediscovered her powers._

 _The day her parents died._

 _The day her twin died._

The debris never hit them, like they braced for. Bobby had put up a shield to protect them, but even he wasn't strong enough, the ice melted rapidly and what they saw shocked everyone to their core.

Persephone Brandt was in front of them, her entire body covered in flames as her ruby-red hair whipped around her. She had created a dome around them, a second layer of protection from the blast that was impenetrable. She was growling under her labored breathing as her orange eyes turned to the Hellfire operatives who came through the hole they made only to be met with the incensed pyrokinetic.

"Aunt Seph." Joey whispered from behind Steve, not scared of her, but in awe of her.

"Persephone." Steve's lips barely moved as he breathed her name, the same awed expression on his face as Joseph as he looked at the ethereal woman before him.

Persephone wasn't listening though, the dome around the team dissipated and retracted back to its conjurer, her clothes were hanging off her in burnt tatters, the floor was starting to blacken and burn through as she took a deep breath, her hands curling into claws as the assassins took out their weapons.

Emotionless. Fearless.

A big mistake.

Persephone's mouth opened and a piercing, animalistic roar erupted from her, her head tilting back as her eyes blazed and her body burned brighter.

She was ethereal.

Beautiful.

Worthy of a Greek Goddess.

She was dangerous.

A predator.

Worthy of a demon from Hell.

Persephone is the Hell Hound.

* * *

 **Hi guys!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter, full of drama I know!**

 **Just so you know and have an easier time imagining her roar, I envision it to be somewhere in between a tiger and a gorilla as they both have terrifying roars.**

 **Thank you so much for your continued support and your love for this story! I appreciate it so much! Thank you again! Look out for the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **1** **, 446**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 14:**_

 ** _Hell Hound_**

* * *

"You will surrender or we will open fire." The leader had a thick Russian accent as all five Hellfire operatives raised their firearms at Persephone and the Avengers.

"I'm not going anywhere." Persephone was uncharacteristically calm, especially because just moments earlier, she was on a whole new level of rage, her voice was normal, but there was something underlying, a deeper, gravelly undertone that made Joseph shiver. It was like hearing a voice in a horror movie, "and you're not going to hurt my family nor my friends."

"Either you come with us and be worth our time, or we kill all those that are precious to you." His voice was distorted from the voice modulator, his face hidden behind the tactical helmet that seemed to be the norm for these Hellfire operatives. They were attentive to their weapons, ready to fire on the leader's command.

The fiery aura around her burning brighter as she raised one hand, gesturing as if she was beckoning them closer to her. Her stormy expression had transformed into one that personified tranquility and grace, her eyes glowing orange, her ruby red hair lifting around her like a crackling flame. With her tattered clothing and the soot covering her skin, she looked as if she had just come from the depths of Hell, a beautiful dangerous creature. "I don't think so." Persephone's voice betrayed the image she portrayed. It betrayed the elegance and the grace and the tranquility.

Her voice was full of rage, fire and violence.

She was tapping into their emotions, using their calmness as a front while the rage inside her built. She had entered their minds through their emotions and now. . she could see their memories. They had never experienced fear, all of them plucked from their families from a young age as Hellfire drilled the fear out of them and made them empty, hollow shells. They had no fear, they were emotionless.

That's a mistake.

For those that have felt fear, it's strong and it rocks through your whole body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, but over time, you learn to overcome it. Those that have learnt to desensitize themselves from feeling any kind of emotion, will be overwhelmed by something they have never overcome.

"I'm going to give you a taste of what fear feels like, and there is no other way to gain the purest feeling of fear, than from a child who is scared to the bone." Persephone's head slowly leaned down and the assassins screamed as they felt Joseph's fear, falling to their knees as they dropped their weapons, clutching at their helmets.

They let their guard down and now, they could be incapacitated.

In a split second, there was a flash of fire and she was in front of the assassins. Persephone ceased her control over their emotions and she lifted her dominant leg in position and swung in from the side, connecting the side of her heel with his skull in a strong kick. She heard the loud footsteps of one of them moving to restrain her. Without looking, she swung her still suspended leg out, turning her body and she roundhouse kicked the other operative in the jaw and concentrating hard, she was able to create more of an impact with pooling her flames right at the point were the side of her heel made contact, causing him to fling against the window, fracturing it loudly.

Turning fully from the knocked out Hellfire assassins, she confronted the other two near the damaged window and cracked her knuckles, "who's next?" Without giving them time to even prepare, there was another flash of flames, the sounds of gunfire before the other two were on the ground, burnt and unconscious. The bullets melted on the ground, having not even pierced the protective layer of flames that surrounded Seph.

"Look out!" Joseph's fearful voice roared from behind Steve as he pointed behind her. Persephone whipped around but she was too late to counter.

"Persephone!" Steve screamed as the leader of the Hellfire squad, grabbed her by the shoulders, searing his hands but he pushed through the pain and rammed them both through the window, free falling.

"And now we both die, for Hellfire." The leader was calm, emotionless as he fell without fear down the Avengers tower. Seph pushed away from the squad leader and she screamed, seeing Joseph's tear-stricken face as he screamed for his aunt, Steve holding him back as he watched on helplessly.

It took less time than she thought to hit the ground.

For Steve, time past in a flash, "Joseph, stay with your uncle, I'll be back with your aunt." Giving the distraught Joseph to Bobby, he took off out of the training room, ignoring the calls of his teammates, the doors bending unnaturally as he pushed them open with his sheer strength. He took the elevator down and burst out of the building, stopping short when he saw Seph kneeling on the ground, her fiery aura starting to burst irregularly and he could hear her soft whimpers of pain.

"Persephone!" Steve called, trying to get as close as he could to her as Bobby soon came out.

Her cuts and bruises were slowly healing as she clutched at her red hair, groaning in pain. "S-Steve. . .it hurts. ." Persephone whimpered, crying out as the flames burst and became higher and shot out in different directions. Bobby was quick to counter and safely stopped the fireballs from creating damage.

"She's unstable, if it continues, she could blow up the whole of Manhattan. Her power is equivalent to a nuclear explosion times ten!" Bobby explained, looking at his cousin with worried and fearful eyes.

Steve could feel the heat of her flames and hear her cries for help. Walking closer, he ignored the discomfort as he tried to catch her attention, "Persephone, hey, Persephone, I'm right here." Lifting her face up, wet tracks on her cheeks caught the light of the flames as she was crying in pain, her eyes flickering between hazel and orange.

"S-Steve. .I can't . . .I can't control it anymore." Seph begged, which was uncharacteristic of her. She never begged for anything.

Steve couldn't take it anymore and braced himself, before he launched forward, ignoring Bobby's warnings and he embraced Persephone tight, to give her an anchor, something to pull her back from her power.

So, it shocked him when the flames wrapped around him, their heat now bearable, if a little warm. He couldn't feel anything. No burning as it was just them in their own world as Persephone looked up at Steve, her eyes still flickering, "help me." She whispered, her fire was still contorting wildly.

"I guess we need to make another memory."

"How? I can't even think straight!" Persephone cried, digging her nails into Steve's shoulders as she clutched at him, desperately trying to ground herself.

"There's one thing I can do." Steve whispered, making the pyrokinetic look up at him with a questioning, pained gaze. Gently sliding his finger under her chin, he tilted her head upward, so their lips were only inches apart. "Do you trust me, Persephone?"

She nodded silently.

Everything went silent.

Time stopped as Steve closed the distance between them.

Their lips met in a heart-stopping kiss.

Steve's hands slid upward to frame her face, his fingers reaching into her hair, twisting themselves in her chestnut-red locks as Seph's hands slowly let go of their death grip on his shoulders and lightly rested against them. Their lips moved together in perfect synchronization as Persephone's mind slowly quietened down and the pain within her melted away. All she could think about was Steve, experience his emotions for herself and the aura surrounding them slowly disappeared.

Suddenly, Persephone stiffened against him and she fell limp, the kiss breaking as she fell against his chest, unconscious. "Hey, hey, hey," Steve murmured gently, supporting her head as he slowly laid her back against the cement, Bobby running up to see if he could help. "Seph, hey. Seph." Steve called, gently rubbing her cheek.

She stirred slowly, opening her eyes gently, her hazel meeting Steve's blue, a soft, delighted smile curling her lips, "you called me Seph."


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT:** **1** **, 775**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 15:**_

 ** _Love_**

* * *

Steve carried a limp Seph back in the tower as she slept off the after effects of her power.

The rest was a flurry of activity.

Joseph ran to his aunt, sobbing as Tony and Bruce came to assess her health and her chances of survival. Nat, Clint and Thor had been unable to stop the assassins from biting into a cyanide capped false tooth in all the commotion and died for their cause. Bobby was taking care of the fire that Seph's power had flung everywhere, also updating Professor Xavier on Persephone's status.

Steve lay Seph on his bed, pulling the covers over her to keep her warm and Joseph curled up against her side, resting his head on her chest, "A-Aunt Seph will be okay, yeah?"

"She'll be as good as new." Steve gently pet Joseph's shaggy hair, smiling gently at the young boy, "I promise, Joey." The young boy nodded before he went back to cuddling his aunt, sniffling and he watched over her.

Walking out of his room, Steve entered the relaxing area where all of the Avengers with Bobby and Professor Xavier had gathered.

Nat was the first one to stand, "how is she doing?"

"She's alright, she's resting now. It took a lot out of her." Steve reassured, "Joey's watching over her, he'll probably call for us if anything happens." Steve moved to the sofa and sat down heavily, exhausted by the day's events.

"Persephone's power could have easily wiped out all of Manhattan-" Professor Xavier started only to be cut off by Tony,

"-but she didn't. Cap calmed her down."

"And that's all very good, but her power is unstable. If her emotional levels were to go incredibly high, she _will_ lose control, her body will start to burn from the inside out and then, there will be no stopping the explosion of her powers. Bobby tells me that her aura was starting to break apart?"

"Yeah." Steve answered shortly, not liking where this conversation was turning.

"Then it is even worse than I imagined."

"Explain." Steve ordered.

"If the fire surrounding her was starting to break off from her protective shield, then she was starting to become overwhelmed. Her power is that of an Omega level mutant, Persephone cannot contain nor overcome that level of power, especially when she has not been in touch with it for so long."

"I ran many tests on Persephone, everything was fine. There was no external or internal damage to speak of." Bruce spoke up, his arms crossed over his purple shirt as he stared straight at Professor Xavier, "she's completely fine. I concluded that all she needed was some rest to recuperate."

"Bobby also mentioned that she was also healing. Regenerative healing."

"She was pushed out of a window and she healed. I'm counting my blessings right now rather than finding a problem with it." Steve grounded out.

"The only problem is that we don't know the extent of her injuries while she was combusting. We don't know how far it went before she started to heal." Charles's expression became despondent, "there is only one thing we can do, to ensure it never happens again."

"I refuse to give up my powers just because you're a little antsy." Persephone spoke from the archway with Joseph next to her, standing fearlessly.

After today, he vowed to use his emotions to propel him forward, instead of gluing him to the spot.

"Persephone, please consider the consequences if we do not." Charles turned to face her as Steve stood from his spot.

"They're considered and I recognize the dangers, but I refuse to have that wall put back up when I've accomplished too much to turn back now. I won't forget everything up to this point. I won't go back to how it used to be," Persephone stood her ground, her voice firm and her eyes hard, "not when I have my family back." She lifted her arm to rest it over Joey's shoulders and the young boy leaned into his aunt.

"My Mum believed in Aunt Seph." Joey spoke and all eyes were on him, "Mum believed that Aunt Seph can overcome this, or she would never have made that video for her and would have kept quiet about it, but she didn't." Joey turned his head up to his aunt and indigo blue looked deep into hazel, " _I_ believe my aunt can do this, or I wouldn't be by her side." Seph sniffled, wiping away the tears that slid from her eyes, "we are the Brandt's after all."

"Damn right we are." Seph grinned, bending to press a soft kiss to his forehead, only to be met with grumbling and soft groans of displeasure from the blushing eleven-year-old, causing all of the adults in the room to laugh.

"It looks like you have your answer." Steve cut through the laughter, making his way to his girl and her nephew, standing tall behind them, a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Yes, it appears I do." Charles smiled, looking up at Seph, "do come to us if you ever need to, for anything."

"I will." Persephone acquiesced.

And with that, the two mutants left.

After an hour of talking and being filled in; Seph, Joey and Steve were all huddled together, Joey asleep on Steve's shoulder, "well, there is nothing to be worrying about."

"What do you mean?" Clint asked, looking at Seph with confusion.

"When I was using their emotions, I could see their memories, Hellfire was going to pull back for the time being if this mission failed. I guess they won't be bothering me or Joey anymore."

"Well, just to be sure, I'd like to set up your house with counter measures, if anything does happen." Tony interjected.

"M-my house? You mean my childhood home?"

"Yeah. I paid off the mortgage in your name and paid the bills in advance, because I assume you'd be moving back in the house and it'd be easier for me to set up said counter measures." Tony leaned back into the chair, speaking like he did this everyday.

"Y-you paid off my mortgage? I own the house now?"

"Yeah."

Seph looked up at Steve, tears in her eyes before turning to look at Tony, too shocked to move, "thank you. Thank you so much, Tony."

"No need to thank me. You're one of us now, Seph." Tony smiled cockily, but there was deep sincerity in his eyes.

"Yeah, you can put up all the safety stuff you need."

"Goody." Tony commented, munching on a snack.

After everything she had been through, Seph could finally see the light at the end of the dark, depressing tunnel she had been in since the invasion and she could finally breathe. She fell against Steve, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders and his fingertips gently traced soft patterns on her upper arm as they all just talked.

(..)

After putting Joey to bed, Steve entered his own room, sure that Seph would be in hers, asleep.

But what he didn't expect was to see Seph in a peach knee-length nightgown, with his brown leather jacket over it as she stood in the middle of his room, with her back to him.

He closed the door, startling her and she turned, her cheeks pink as she captured his eyes with her own, her chestnut red hair down, tumbling against her mid-back in straight locks, a few stray hairs out of place, her stomach, though a little smaller, still pushed a little out, she retained her curvy, hourglass figure and he couldn't say he didn't love it. Because he did.

"What are you doing, Persephone?" Steve asked, a small grin evident on his face as he gazed at her.

"Um," Seph murmured, walking toward the Captain slowly, "well, Captain," her voice wrapped around the words silkily, her eyes smoldering as a soft, sexy smirk curving her full lips, "can you guess or do you need a little explanation?" Her hands rested against his chest, their lips inches away.

Steve smiled and he suddenly bent down, wrapping his arms around her thick thighs and he lifted her up easily, looking up at his angel as her hair fell around them like a brown-red curtain, her giggles echoing in the room as her hands moved from his chest to his shoulders to steady herself. "I think I'm going to need a very thorough explanation, but first," freeing one arm, he slowly slid his jacket off her shoulders, "may I help you out of your jacket, ma'am? It might get a little uncomfortable very soon." The leather fell heavily to the floor at his feet.

"Oh, please do, Captain." Seph giggled, before leaning down and capturing his lips in a breathtaking kiss. Steve kissed back fervently, his head tilting to the exactly right angle to slip his tongue in between her lips and into her mouth, a delighted squeak was all that Seph did before she too, followed suit.

Breaking the kiss, Steve nestled his nose against hers, pressing soft little pecks against her lips, before he whispered, his eyes open and staring into hers with so much emotion, "I love you, Seph."

The words themselves were filled with that particular emotion and Seph revelled in it, her lips spread to reveal her white teeth as she beamed at him, tears rolling down her cheeks as she too whispered, "I love you too, Steve."

Steve laughed joyously, kissing her lovingly as he took long strides to the bed, making Seph laugh in delight and she decided to explain everything thoroughly.

(..)

"What do you think?" Clint asked, sitting opposite Nat who was curled like a cat in the recliner, everyone else had gone to bed or their respective homes, so it was just Clint and Natasha left.

"Think of what?" She asked, looking up at Clint, her brows furrowed.

"Think she's his _'best girl'_?" Clint grinned, using the forties lingo.

Nat just smiled before replying, "I think he's her _Best Boy._ "


	16. Epilogue

_**A/N:**_ _If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I don't own Captain America, only my character/s_

* * *

 _ **Epilogue:**_

 ** _It's Not Over_**

* * *

 _A year later:_

Steve sat with Joey at the boy's desk in Seph and Barbara's old room, which had been converted into Joey's now. He sat on one of the dining room chairs that he had brought up as Joey sat on the wheelie chair.

Joey was listening to Steve talk intently, writing down notes upon notes of facts with a light in his eyes.

Steve paused to see Seph entering the open doorway with a plate of sandwiches and a large happy smile on her face and she set them down on a free space on the desk, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of Joey's head as Steve's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her down on his lap, causing her to chuckle. Seph reciprocated by giving Steve a soft, loving kiss that Joey loudly groaned at before he plucked one half of a sandwich from the plate Seph had prepared and started munching on it.

Both Seph and Steve laughed good-naturedly at Joey's disgust over the display of affection _(given the fact that he was still just a kid, and entering the awkward stage of his life: adolescence)_ and Seph, also known by her nickname dubbed by the media: _Miss. America_ grabbed his cheek and started to tug teasingly, making Joey wail in irritation and amusement.

(..)

 _'And to conclude my paper on America's Hero,_ _he wasn't alone._

 _Not ever, because he always had two people to give him strength during his younger years._

 _The first is the man we all know as James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, Captain Rogers' closest friend, Bucky was just like a brother to Steve._

 _The second was a woman whom he had known since he was two years old, she had been there through his best and worst times and she was his constant in the ever changing world._

 _His sister, Melanie Grace Rogers._

 _~Joseph M Brandt.'_

* * *

 ** _Holy moly, it's over._**

 ** _Well, not technically._**

 ** _I sincerely hope you enjoyed 'Her Best Boy', and don't worry,_**

 ** _I'm not letting it end here._**

 ** _There's still a lot I have to say and a lot I have to write._**

 ** _Look out for the second instalment in the Hell Hound series, Her Glacial Fire._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _~Munsurieya :D_**


	17. Her Glacial Fire

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 723**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _ **Morning Run**_

* * *

She had come to realise that her boyfriend was still coming to terms with his life in 2014.

He was still having flashbacks and he had told Seph that the bed was too soft for him to sleep, Seph understood his predicament so she never complained, not that she had any inclination to. Steve needed time to adjust and she was going to support him no matter what.

So, today, she decided on going with him on his run.

Steve had woken her up by getting up a little rougher than he anticipated and she groaned softly, feeling him whisper apologies and lean over the bed to kiss her cheek, hugging her toasty warm body to his and he sighed. "I'm sorry, doll. Go back to sleep." He whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her jaw as she moaned sleepily.

"I'm coming with you, hold on." Seph croaked before pressing multiple, quick kisses to his lips, before she got up, yawning.

"Persephone, it's way too early, and you've got work later." Steve tried to make her see reason. There was no doubt, he loved having Seph with him on his runs, even though he had to piggy-back her after jogging one third of what he normally runs. Listening to her encourage him poorly would make him laugh, but she had been working hard; Seph was exhausted.

"Nuh-uh. I'm coming. Give me five minutes."

Steve sighed, feeling a little excited to be spending time with his best girl and he quickly shrugged on a grey workout shirt and his navy blue sweatpants, tying his sneakers tight when Seph walked out of the bathroom, her hair up in a tight ponytail, her face washed and she had brushed her teeth as she pulled off her nightgown as Steve sat back to appreciate her.

Seph hadn't noticed yet as she delved through the drawer and pulled out her outfit, shrugging on her workout tank top and her favourite black leggings and she turned to grab her sneakers before she caught Steve eyeing her up and down. Her lips curled into a grin and she wiggled her hips. "See something you like?" She teased him.

"Every day when I wake up and every night when I go to bed." Steve quipped as he stood, strode to his girl and handed Seph her sneakers and a pair of socks, before enveloping her in his arms, kissing her softly.

Seph gasped as his lips moved against hers and she reciprocated happily.

Steve smiled before pulling away, looking down at her lovingly, his large hand caressing her soft, pink cheek. "You're blushing," Steve chuckled, his pointer finger softly running down the warm skin, "you do that a lot."

"It's become a natural occurrence around you." Seph grinned before she patted his solid chest and sat on the edge of the bed, sliding on the pair of socks before slipping on her sneakers, tying her shoelaces up. They walked downstairs into the kitchen where Joey was, munching on his cereal and Seph smiled, pressing a kiss to his hair, "what are you doing up so early, mister? It's not even dawn."

"Morning, Aunt Seph, just thought I'd get my English homework done. Hey, Uncle Steve." Joey grinned up at Steve, setting his pen down and the older, blonde man pat his shoulder, letting it rest around his broadening shoulders. It had been two years since they met and fallen into love. Joey had grown closer to Steve and treated him as if he were part of the family.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Steve asked, reading Joey's unfinished English homework over his shoulder.

"Yeah, not bad. You? Couldn't sleep again?" Joey asked, looking up at the Captain with a small, sad smile.

Steve shook his head, the same smile curling his lips, "your aunt is refusing to stay home and she's coming for a run with me."

"Is she crazy?" Joey whispered to Steve, who chuckled, shrugging gently.

Joey had grown up quite a lot in the past two years, now twelve years old and in middle school. His hair was longer, reaching his shoulders in soft waves and his fringe fell into his eyes when it wasn't clipped back, his eyes were darker now, becoming more sapphire now. He was growing and since he competed in many sporting events (all of which Seph was in the crowd), he was starting to gain more muscle. He was turning into quite the handsome boy as Seph was told that many of the girls in his class were crushing on him. But he loved to draw, like his uncle, who taught him a lot. There were many sketches around the house that could be credited to Joey.

"What do you want in the shake?" Seph asked, pulling out the Nutribullet and looked over at Steve who smiled.

"I like what you usually make." He scratched the back of his head, making her chuckle.

She walked to the freezer and grabbed the frozen assortment of berries and poured a good amount of them in the smoothie maker, considering they shared and cracked a raw egg in the cup, pouring a generous amount of full cream milk that they both enjoyed and she spooned a large helping of honey to sweeten the drink.

Setting it all up, she blended the drink until it was smooth and completely mixed in with all the other ingredients and quickly poured the smoothie in a modern travel mug before cleaning the mess and putting everything away. They said their goodbyes to Joey and then they were off.

(..)

"Oh God!" Seph heaved, trying to keep up with Steve and doing a poor job of it, sweat lined her entire body, her forehead shining as she stopped, gasping for air. "Damn, super-soldier." She muttered to herself as Steve stood in front of her, not even having scratched the surface.

"I heard that," Steve teased her, turning around so he faced away from her and knelt to the ground so she'd climb up on him. "Assume the position." He nodded his head for her to get on.

"I forgot you have the ears of a Vulcan." Seph teased him before she clambered on his back, the half-drunk smoothie right near his lips as she held onto his shoulders, panting hard as he took off once more.

"I know you're talking about this Star Wars business, but I still haven't seen it." Steve reminded her.

"Star Trek, sweetheart." Seph corrected him, her body bouncing softly as Steve's hands caressed her thighs. "Star Wars is the one with the Jedi, remember? You haven't seen Star Trek yet."

"Right! You know, you still need to get them." Steve mused and ran faster. Seph's body weight hardly hindered him at all as he kept running.

"It's on my list." Seph stole his line, laughing, "let's go!" Seph called as Steve sped up faster as she started to hum the Rocky theme song. He still hadn't seen the movie but Seph kept doing it, saying he'd get the reference one day.

"Yes, ma'am." Steve laughed as he ran faster and faster and she laughed, pressing soft kisses on his cheek as they spotted a man jogging at a leisurely pace in front of them. It was still dark outside, but the super-soldier could see him clearly and he sped up, catching up to a man who also had the same idea as Steve.

Running to get their mind off the wars they fought.

As Steve passed him, he murmured, "on your left." Catching the stranger's attention, he looked toward the power couple as Seph saluted.

Steve continued the same phrase every time they passed the soldier.

Seph by the third time, had gotten down from Steve's back and was jogging up ahead both soldiers only to hear:

" _Don't say it, don't you say it!"_ The man replied, dreading to hear the Captain's words.

Steve shit-stirred him anyway, " _On your left._ " He said, running faster.

" _Come on!"_ He roared, trying to chase after the blonde man.

Steve took off, and without missing a beat, lifted Seph off her feet, enjoying the startled cry as she laughed and he ran with her. _"Hey!"_ Seph cried, laughing as hard as she could, looking at her boyfriend who, quite literally, swept her off her feet.

Steve did one more lap before he set Seph down and they proceeded to the panting soldier, nursing the stitch in his side.

"Need a medic?" Steve teased, standing just under the tree, hands on his hips and Seph smiled to the soldier.

He chuckled, "I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes." Her marvelled.

"I guess I got a late start." Steve joked and Seph smacked his chest teasingly.

"Wise-ass." Seph remarked, making both men chuckle.

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He also remarked, continuing the banter, "did you take it? I assumed you just took it." That made Seph chuckle.

It was then Steve noticed the jumper, "what unit you with?"

"58th Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA." The man stated, as he lifted his hand in greeting, "Sam Wilson." He introduced himself.

"Steve Rogers." Steve took his hand and helped him up, "this is my other half, Persephone Brandt."

"Yeah, I kinda put that together. Nice to meet you, Miss America." Sam said, adopting the nickname that the media dubbed her and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly before she took his hand in a strong shake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Wilson and thank you." Dating the WWII war hero (and also having had her father and great-grandfather in the military) had opened her eyes to what their country's military forces sacrifice in service to their nation and the individual toll it has on the men and women that joined.

Sam nodded in thanks and respect for the woman, "please, call me Sam." Seph smiled and he turned back to Steve, "must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing." He commented, and Steve shrugged, sliding his hand around Seph's waist and she smiled up at him gently, patting his chest.

"It takes some getting used to, but when you got a beautiful dame like this to keep you grounded. . . ain't no place I'd rather be." Steve looked down at Seph and she smiled peacefully before he turned back to Sam, "it's good to meet you, Sam." Both Seph and Steve started down to the pavement, before Sam called back:

"It's your bed, right?"

"What's that?" Steve asked, politely and Seph smiled knowingly. Though he just met Steve, he knew exactly why Steve was up at 4:30 AM, for a morning run.

 _'Got it in one, Sam.'_ She thought.

"Your bed, its too soft." Sam provided an explanation as he walked toward them, stopping in front of Steve, "when I was over there I used to sleep on the ground, use rock for pillows like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed and it's like. ." Sam looked at a loss for words, but Steve knew exactly what the other man was getting at.

"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve provided and he hugged Seph closer, "feel like I'm going to sink right to the floor." Sam nodded. "How long?" Steve asked.

"Two tours." Seph sighed, the haunted look on both their faces was enough to break her heart, before Sam smiled. He covered it up good. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad." Steve looked around before he looked down at Seph, as if making sure she was still there before he turned back to Sam, "Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful; been reading that a lot, tryin' to catch up." Steve listed and Seph thought of the little red book of things that he had yet to try and things that he had yet to discover.

" _Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man_ soundtrack _._ Everything you missed, jammed into one album." Sam suggested, to which Steve nodded in interest, taking out the famous little red pocketbook and she giggled.

"I'll put it on the list." He's said _that_ a lot too. Steve opened it to the page where he had some space and wrote it down.

"Don't forget to cross out Thai food. We ate that last night." Seph reminded.

"Is that what it was? I thought you just cooked something exotic." Steve mused, quickly crossing out _'Thai Food'_.

"No," Seph chuckled, just as his phone dinged and vibrated with a new message. She sighed.

Steve put his pocketbook away and took out his SHIELD phone and she read the message over his shoulder: " _ **MISSION ALERT. EXTRACTION IMMINENT. MEET AT THE CURB. :)"**_ She only knew one person that would send Steve a smiley, and that was Nat...and Tony... but mostly Nat.

Seph and Nat had gotten closer after the incident with _Hellfire_ and they were practically best friends.

"All right, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run." Steve shook Sam's hand. "If that's what you want to call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam teased.

"Oh, that's how it is." Steve grinned, wrapping his arm around Seph.

"It was nice to meet you, Sam." Seph waved gently.

"Nice to meet you too, Seph." He called her by her nickname and she tapped Steve.

"Now see, why can't you do that?" She laughed and the World War two veteran rolled his eyes.

"Anytime you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk. Just let me know." Steve and Seph migrated to the curb and Steve nodded, his face taking on a contemplative expression.

"I'll keep it mind." Steve grinned as Seph heard the growl of the engine. No doubt Nat in some expensive-

Yep, it definitely was expensive.

"Hey fellas and pyrokinetic badass," Nat greeted and Seph chuckled, "either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." When Seph heard the punchline, she burst into laughter as they walked to the car.

"That's hilarious." Steve dryly commented, getting in the car and Seph squeezed in, having no other way home and Steve wouldn't have left her to go to the bus stop by herself.

The brief altercation with Sam and Nat peeked Seph's interest as she seated herself in Steve's lap as he looked out the window, "can't run everywhere."

"No you can't." Sam agreed as they took off.

"You know, I will now expect to be greeted like that all the time." Seph mused, sideways glancing at her best friend who chuckled.

"Noted." Nat said and Seph sighed in relief to be off her feet. "Where am I dropping you, Seph?"

"Mine." Seph said as Steve wrapped both of his arms around her waist. "I'm gonna crash, let me know when we get there, 'kay?" She asked and Steve nodded.

"Got it, baby-doll." Steve affirmed and Seph closed her eyes, letting the smooth rocking of the car lull her to sleep as Steve and Natasha spoke amongst themselves.

Two years they had built their relationship and grown to trust each other implicitly.

But now, everything was about to change.

* * *

 ** _Welcome back!_**

 ** _Instead of having two individual stories, I'll be putting them all together in one massive story like my Twilight story: 'Opposite Sides of the Spectrum.' I hope you enjoy this new set up and yeah, I know theres been a bit of a mix up, I'm fixing it now ;(_**

 ** _-Munsurieya_**


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 018**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 18**_

 ** _Danger_**

* * *

"Look who it is, the running man." Sam greeted, making Steve chuckle as he watched the retired soldier fix the pamphlets on the little desk.

"Caught the last few minutes, it's pretty intense. It's the same for Seph when she talks to the survivors of the invasion." Steve commented, having remembered how compassionate yet professional Seph was when she was conducting a meeting with the group in the program.

"Yeah, brother," Sam agreed, "we all got the same problems." Sam continued to fix the pamphlets and leaflets, "guilt, regret." Sam looked up, the familiar look of sorrow that Steve had seen many times, in himself and in Seph.

"You lose someone?" Steve asked.

"My wingman, Riley." Sam nodded stiffly, "flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue Op." His voice was bleak but the pain was clear in his eyes, "nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before," Sam shrugged, "until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky." Sam sighed and Steve could see the faint shake in the other man's hands, "nothing I could do." Sam shook his head, "it's like I was up there just to watch."

"I'm sorry." Steve offered his condolences. It was so much like Seph, her pain and suffering was also in this poor man who watched his partner die; just like Steve had.

"After that," Sam continued, "I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, y'know?"

Steve nodded, trying to find the happy line in all of this tragedy, "but you're happy now, back in the world?" He asked softly, needing advice about civilian life.

"The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah!" Sam joked, sharing a chuckle with Steve, "are you thinking about getting out?"

"No," Steve sighed before changing his answer, "I don't know." Steve scoffed at himself, "To be honest, I don't know what I'd do with myself if I did."

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam joked, "just a great idea off the top of my head," Sam sobered, "but seriously, you could do whatever you want to do, what makes you happy?"

"Persephone." Steve answered straight away, "she never fails to put a smile on my face." Steve smiles, thinking back to their moments together.

A quick grin lined Sam's lips before he continued, "Well, for starters. If I were you, I'd think about tying down that gorgeous Miss. America and no I do not mean the model. If she is what makes you happy, talk it over with Seph, I'm sure she'll listen to whatever you'd want to say to her."

"I'm sure you're right."

(..)

Seph knew that Steve was back, but he hadn't been to visit, nor had he called.

Just a few texts here and there.

It was getting weird.

He had told her about his problems with Nick Fury but after that, all he did was check up on her.

Hell, it was normally _her_ that was doing the checking up these days. Before, he used to be so attentive toward her and, yeah, Seph knew that there are times in relationships when you can't afford to be together 100%. She knew that very well, but even when he started to work for SHIELD as a field agent and went on missions and visiting Peggy, (which she had no problem with) she found that he had no time for her. The only time they really were together was before his latest mission a week ago.

She knew he was Captain America and he had a duty to his country, hence the title. But he was also Steven Grant Rogers, a born and bred Brooklyn man who just wanted to do what was right and sometimes, Seph thinks he forgets that.

She can't fault him.

He was in an entirely different world with technology that he would never have been able to dream up in a thousand years and he felt out of place, like he was old relic amongst the new advancements.

But she just wished that he could take some time off from being Captain America, national hero and celebrity; and be her Steve. Her dorky, sweet Steve that would burn dinner but she'd eat it to spare his feelings. Her Steve that would keep her still in a certain pose while he drew her perfectly and then would close his third sketchbook that was nearing the end of its time. Her Steve that would watch as she put on his old movies on YouTube and tease him relentlessly as he groaned, trying to reach the PS4 controller and somehow that would turn into a makeout session. Her Steve that was like a father figure that her nephew sorely needed, and helped the young boy with his homework and gave him tips on drawing and even played ball with him and went to his games with her.

She missed all that stuff.

But tonight, she wasn't going to dwell on it, it was going to be a good night.

Seph was enjoying a nice lunch with her beautiful nephew, who with the money he had saved up from doing odd jobs with the neighbours, he paid for their wonderful meal at Poppy's Diner, her old waitressing job.

"So? I did good, didn't I?" Joey looked at the spread, making Seph giggle.

"You did awesome, Joey. Good job, honey." Seph praised her nephew as Jason served them, setting their plates down on the table.

"Treating your aunt to a nice lunch, huh, Joey?" The ginger asked, his wedding ring shining brightly in the light.

Seph was at the wedding with Steve and the captain who fought in WWII, witnessed two men promise themselves to each other and exchanging rings. For Steve, it was a piece of beautiful history for him, to witness a man and a man marry for love, despite all the obstacles that had been in the way of LGBT community.

"Mm-hm! Aunt Seph works hard so I thought I'd treat her to lunch and we agreed, no phones." Joey grinned as he dug into his meal as Seph chuckled at her nephew.

"And you, missy? How's your new job?" Jason asked, gently patting her shoulder.

"Really good. It's as much freeing for me as it is for them to talk about the invasion openly and discuss their feelings." Seph explained.

"It's all part of Tony Stark's 'Help the Helpless' program, isn't it?" Jason asked and Seph nodded, chewing on the forkful of food.

"Yeah, my team and I are helping a lot of people come to terms with the battle, with the loss of family members and friends and the physical and mental toll it's had on them as individuals."

"Wow, that sounds. . pretty amazing. Just like you, sweetheart." Jason grinned, "I mean, you gotta be extraordinary to bag someone like Captain _friggin'_ America."

"Shut up." Seph mumbled, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink and Jason laughed, winking at Joey teasingly and the twelve-year-old giggled.

"Seph, have you seen the news?" Vincent called, running out from the back, holding the remote.

"No, why?" Her brows creased as Vince turned the T.V on and there was Steve and Nat's face on the screen with the presenter speaking urgently.

 _"This just in: Steven Rogers and Natasha Romanov, also known by their code-names as Captain America and Black Widow are under suspicion of withholding information from SHIELD following the unfortunate death of Colonel Nicholas. J. Fury. The government has made their capture top priority with both Miss. Romanov and Mr. Rogers and public enemies one and two."_ Seph shot up from her seat, her heart pounding as she watched the anchor deliver the hard news, _"We have also been asked that if you, the public, have seen this woman,_ " a picture of Seph's smiling face lit the screen and everyone turned to her, _"please contact the police, she is to be brought in for questioning immediately."_

"Get out of here, now!" Jason ordered, stepping away as he yelled at his customers, "put your damn phones down, _now!"_ With Jason's roar, phones clattered on the tables as Seph and Joseph quickly packed up their things before running out of the diner, only to be stopped by a bunch of agents in black with guns and an unidentifiable man with a metal arm. Persephone quickly pushed Joseph behind her, shielding him. "Persephone Lucille and Joseph Michael Brandt, you will come quietly without resistance or we will fire upon you." One of the closer agents spoke loud enough to be heard.

"I'm not going anywhere until everything is explained and you aren't taking my nephew." Seph snarled, livid.

"I'm afraid you're not in any position to be negotiating."

"And you're not in a position to give me orders." Her eyes slowly turned orange.

"Fire at will!" The agents lifted their guns and started firing but Seph was quicker, pushing back Joseph, her flames erupted and she protected her family, friends and people in the diner. Undercover in the flames, she moved, taking out multiple agents a time. Her movements were quick and precise, just how Steve taught her, but what she wasn't counting on was a cold metal arm clamping around her throat tightly.

Seph gasped and her fire died out as she was lifted off the ground by the man holding her. "Aunt Persephone!" Joseph called, watching as his aunt was being choked. "Soldier, do not kill her." One of the wounded agents ordered. The Soldier seemed to take that order as his hand loosened slightly before lifting his arm higher and threw her down against the concrete in an aggressive chokeslam. Seph grunted in pain as the cement cracked from the force, stunned as she looked up at the Soldier.

She'd heard something similar like that. Nat had told her something about some Soldier. ' _Summer Soldier? No, that wasn't right. Storm Soldier? Nope. Hmm, what was it exactly?'_ Seph couldn't hear her nephew calling for her, _'Winter Soldier? Yeah, I think it was the Winter Soldier.'_ Persephone's senses slowly started to bleed back and she saw the Winter Soldier's cybernetic hand turning into a fist. She couldn't even move a muscle.

 _"NO!"_ Joseph roared, charging toward the Soldier, who had barely looked up before he was flying back into the streetlight and from the impact, the streetlight bent at an odd shape with a muffled grunt coming from the Soldier. "Don't you ever lay a hand on my Aunt again." Joseph snarled, his eyes turning purple as he slightly levitated off the ground, panting hard as Seph watched him with wide eyes.

"J-Joey. . ?" Seph's voice was rough and cracked, eyes wide with tears.

Before anything could be said between the relatives, the Winter Soldier whipped out his gun, aiming at Joseph, but once more, Seph was too quick. She snapped her fingers and he dropped the gun, the metal red-hot.

"Aunt Seph!" Joseph's feet touched the ground as he ran toward Seph and he grabbed her hand and in the same span of time they were in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, in front of Logan and the Professor. "Professor Xavier? Professor Logan?" Joseph asked, his eyes slowly turning back to their sapphire blue.

"Joseph, how did you get here?" Charles asked as Logan launched forward, helping up Seph as the bruises around her neck disappeared.

"You okay, kid?" Logan asked, helping her to her feet.

"Charles, we teleported." Seph answered, pulling Joseph to her chest and he hugged her tight, "Joey's a mutant."


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 489**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 19**_

 ** _Kisses and Promises._**

* * *

Seph watched Joseph sleep, sitting opposite her nephew on the couch as he took up all of the loveseat. Her hands shook slightly as she wondered about his abilities, he had stretched himself thin with using super strength and then teleporting right after, he was exhausted.

She had witnessed his impressive strength as he had pushed the Winter Soldier meters back and the blow still had enough momentum to bend the streetlight, he could levitate and he could travel within spaces in flash. Charles thinks Joey had untapped potential to be a very powerful spacial manipulator and could possibly travel within dimensions of time and space and quite possibly, his strength would quadruple if he was like Seph and drew power from emotion, but only time would tell.

Seph sighed, running her hands through her long hair, Steve still hadn't called and she didn't have her phone to call him herself, considering her phone was back home, and now that her house was compromised, she couldn't go back without getting caught.

When she finally got in touch with Steve, she would wring his neck.

Logan walked into the sitting room and handed Seph a steaming mug of straight, black coffee and she took it with a murmured _'thanks'_ before taking a searing sip. "I just don't understand, Logan. He wasn't showing any signs of having the gene at all. Barbara nor Cameron were mutants, as far as I'm aware. I never saw Cameron after that night and Babs died before we could ever figure it out, that and she was my sister, _I'd_ know."

Logan sighed, his fingers rubbing against his lips in thought, "the gene is more likely to develop in early childhood and during adolescence, or so Charles tells me," he explains, "and it isn't necessarily passed down like eye-colour and crap like that, apparently it's mostly derived from the genetics of the father, a fact of a male's biology is the fact that he carries the dormant gene and passes it on to his children, sometimes, people of the same family can have the Mutant X gene and they can have the same properties, just different elements."

"Like Bobby and I." Seph murmured.

"Yeah, you both have elemental abilities and you're related through your mother's side but you got the gene from your father and Joseph got it through Cameron, it's more common than you think, it just takes a push." Seph sighed as she listened to Logan and she took another sip of her coffee before Bobby walked in the sitting room, his phone in his hand.

"Seph, it's Steve."

Her worry dissipated at that name and anger became the most prominent emotion as she took the phone from Bobby, her hair bleeding red and her eyes starting to glow as she hissed into the receiver, "where the hell have you been?"

 _"Seph, I can't-"_

"Where. Have. You. Been?" She snarled, her voice distorting slightly, "Joey and I were attacked by SHIELD agents in broad daylight and where were you?"

 _"What?! Are you okay?!"_ Steve's voice as urgent, full of worry.

"We're both fine. Are you going to tell me where you've been?" Seph demanded, her hold tightening on the phone.

Steve's sigh reverberated down the line, _"we've got a lead of what's going on. . .it's in New Jersey."_

"New _Jersey_!?" Seph roared, quickly turning to see Joseph twitch a little before he nestled deeper into the covers.

 _"I'm so sorry, Persephone. I know. I should have come straight to you when I came back."_ Seph took a shuddering breath at Steve's heartbroken tone.

"You're damn right." Seph sighed, her anger starting to disappear and her worry became the forefront emotion once more, "are you alright?" Her voice was shaky.

 _"I'm fine. Nat's with me, we managed to evade them at the mall."_

"What? How? That mustn't have been easy." She heard Steve flounder and her eyes pierced slightly, "how did you manage to get out of there, Steve?"

 _"I kissed him, Seph."_ Nat's voice filled her ear and Seph froze.

 _'Nat did what?'_ Seph asked herself, her fingers heating up slightly.

"Natasha," Seph started and she heard a faint gulp, everyone knew they were in trouble when Persephone called them by their full name, "you do realize that you locked lips with a taken man and that man happens to be _mine._ " Her voice distorted once more, her exhales coming out in soft growls.

 _"Y-yeah."_ If there was one thing Natasha was somewhat afraid of, it was a raging Persephone Brandt, and a raging Persephone consisted of well-aimed fireballs to the face.

"The next time we spar, I will kick your ass. As of now, we don't have time for petty crap like this. If it got you out of there, good. What are you doing now?" Seph asked, willing her entire body to cool down and the red in her receded back into chestnut and her eyes returned to their beautiful hazel.

 _"Well, I thought you were going to jump through the phone."_ Nat teased.

"Shut up, I still might." Seph warned, but a hint of humor had found itself in her tone and Nat took that as she was forgiven. . .for now. "Steve, I need t-"

 _"I have to go, Seph. But I promise, as soon as I find out what's going on, I'll let you know."_ Steve cut her off, probably too preoccupied with his own problems to have heard her.

"Okay," she sighed, her heart aching at the thought of him rushing into danger, "I love you, Captain."

She heard his breath sharpen like it always does when she said she loved him, _"I love you too, baby-doll. More than you know."_

The line cut and Seph was left with the dial-tone. Sniffling, she ended her side of the call and handed the phone back to Bobby and she took another sip of her coffee, only to see Joseph stirring before he sat up, his hair messy and his eyes opened to reveal sleepy sapphire blue eyes. "Hey, handsome, you wore yourself out before." Seph knelt in front of him, gently fixing his unruly hair with a soft smile.

"Aunt Seph. . . was all that real?" His voice was croaky as he looked down at his aunt, her smile faltered slightly and she framed one side of his face with her hand comfortingly.

"Yeah, sweetheart, it was all real."

Joey's lips spread into an infectious grin and his eyes sparkled, "cool! I can't wait to tell my friends!"

"Whoa, slow down there, tiger." Seph said, holding his hands, "you may have saved the day but there are bigger problems much more out of our control, so, we lay low, okay?"

Joey sighed, holding her hand too, "so, what do we do?"

"Well, first things first, we assess your powers, see how far you can go and hopefully, help you control them." Logan answered, sipping at his own cup of coffee.

"There's no time like the present," Charles levitated in, looking at all four mutants, "shall we begin?"

(..)

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Nat questioned, looking up at the man in question with quizzical eyes.

"Nazi Germany," Steve answered, "and we're borrowing, take you feet off the dash." He ordered.

Nat did so, grinning at his old-man vibe. "Y'know, you didn't kiss me back at the mall. Most men would have jumped at the chance."

"I'm not most men." Steve grinned, thinking of Seph, "and she isn't most women. Most women, who know what you're capable of, wouldn't threaten to kick your butt."

"I think she'd be the only woman I'd let say that to me." Nat grinned.

"The only woman I'll ever kiss willingly, is Persephone, I promised that." Steve answers, his fingers gently drumming against the steering wheel.

"What promise is that?" Nat's eyes turned to Steve who sighed.

"I promised she'd be my only one." Steve answered, "and before you say anything, I know that sound cheesy."

Nat smiled gently, "did Seph say that too?"

"She doesn't know yet, I've been waiting for the right moment." Steve murmured.

Nat grinned, "she'll say the same thing."

Steve smiled, "I know."

* * *

 _ **Hi everyone!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Her Glacial Fire.**_

 ** _Please do follow and favourite so you can get updates and do review, I love reading your feedback!_**

 ** _~Munsurieya_**


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 170**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 20**_

 ** _The Pictures_**

* * *

Seph watched as Joey tore a streetlight from the cement and waved it about like it was nothing. Logan roared as he lunged for the young boy, but Joey was quicker in a flash of purple, disappeared from the spot he was in and reappeared right next to his Aunt, his eyes fading from their amethyst back to the sapphire, before dropping the light. They had also tested if he could control emotions like Seph could, but his power was a little different.

It came from his eyes.

(..)

 _Bobby looked deep into the glowing magenta eyes of Joseph's eyes, gazing into the different hues he could see reflecting like an amethyst gemstone. Charles moved closer to Seph and whispered, "Joey's eyes have a high-functioning hypnosis ability, it's similar to your aura when you completely transform, the way your flames draw in your opponent, Joseph's eyes have a similar ability, but it's much stronger, he's able to keep an adversary in that state for as long as he likes and he doesn't even need to try."_

 _Seph nodded as Joey slowly tilted his head to the right, to which Bobby mimicked the movement, his eyes never leaving Joseph's before the young boy tilted his head toward the left, with Bobby following. "Could that become something else?"_

 _"Yes, yes it could." Charles answered, "your empathic ability was only to be able to sense emotions before your power had been fully released, but now, you're able to access memories through emotion and you can manipulate their emotions easily and even take that in within yourself." He explained._

 _"Well, Joey always was a little hypnotic. His eyes always drew people in, my Mum would get lost in them for ages and whenever he moved, she did too. It's so similar, it scares me a little." Seph's breath shook a little, "okay, we gotta go onto the next test," Seph took a deep breath, "Joseph!" At his name, Joey's gaze tore from Bobby and his eyes snapped to his aunt, the dark violet fading back into crystal sapphire. "Let's move onto the next test, sweetheart."_

 _Joey nodded and Bobby shook his head, the glassy film of his eyes sharpened as he came back to his senses and he looked to Seph, who nodded._

(..)

Joey bent over, resting his hands against his knees as he panted. "Take it easy, it looks like the teleportation takes it a lot out of you. Don't push yourself too hard with it." Seph gently rubbed his back as she helped him take sips of the cool water she had in her other hand, "small sips." She reminded.

Panting hard, Joey swept his sweaty hair from his eyes, the clumped waves stuck to his forehead as he sighed in exhaustion, "I'm doing good, yeah, Aunt Seph?"

"Very well, love. I'm proud of you." Seph smiled gently, fixing his hair.

"Take a break now, kid. You've outdone yourself." Logan said as the simulated street disappeared and they stood in the bare simulation room as Joseph sighed, settling down heavily on the ground, nodding as he sipped at the water.

Seph sighed, before nodding to Logan, "okay, my turn."

Joey watched as Seph and Logan sparred; sapphire eyes watching as Seph moved with perfect form and precision, her power enhanced the blows to the point where Logan couldn't even touch her. She had spent so much time training with Nat and Steve, that from the young woman who was riddled with PTSD and survivor's guilt over the death of her parents and twin, Persephone had become so strong and she was lethal.

Her hands glowed with imbued power as she focused the fire in her arms and legs to push more force into her blows. Hazel eyes fused into burning orange and her hair bled a deep, fire-engine red.

Joseph watched his aunt with wide eyes as she expertly blocked Logan's precise attacks and replied with incredible comebacks of her own.

His aunt was so _cool!_

(..)

The house was empty, the lights were off and the atmosphere was cold. The house was a graveyard of past and present memories, all melding together into the pictures that decorated the walls and tables, even the end-tables had pictures.

Pictures of people he had never seen, all smiling so brightly at him until he felt uncomfortable, more pictures of babies and toddlers, children and teenagers, grown into adults with families and partners and children. It was just so alien to him, all this happiness and warmth that obviously exuded through the captured memories of times long past. Black and white, pastel, warm tones, cold hues, dark, light and medium tones, shadows and highlights: the phrases sounded so similar in his head, but he couldn't place where they had been said, or by whose lips the words had been shaped. No voice to tell him who it was, no face to put a name to. No title. Nothing.

His heart tugged with a foreign emotion when he gazed upon a picture of the woman he had nearly strangled earlier in the day, it was of the pyrokinetic mutant with someone looking exactly like her. Twins. Sisters. Siblings. His heart wrenched once more at the thought of sisters, but he pushed it away. It was foreign. They had a young boy between them. The other mutant. A relative? The young boy who had thrown him into the lamppost with near to no effort. They were all in an embrace and they all smiled at him as if he belonged in the small group. The boy had the same smile.

It was ear-splitting and joyous.

He turned away to see the pyrokinetic once more, this time with a man. A blonde man. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Punk.

The word is foreign.

Punk.

Why does he think of that word when he sees that man?

Because that's what he is.

Punk. Artist. _Stubborn punk._

 _Jerk._

He stumbles away from the photo, clutching at his temples and he can hear the faint call of one of the agents speaking into the military grade walkie-talkie, his eyes nervously moving to him and then back to the kitchen.

He can't hear what he's saying, but he knows what that look means.

Pain.

He doesn't know how he knows, but he does. He doesn't remember ever seeing that look on anyone's face before, but his body remembers it.

It fills him with fear. The fearless killing machine is fearful of that nervous flick of the agent's eyes.

Pictures.

It's the pictures.

Jerk, punk, friends, brother, sister, mutant, Barnes, Rogers, dame, doll, baby-

 _Melanie._


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 279**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 21**_

 _ **Sitwell, Brandt and Barnes**_

* * *

After figuring out about Zola's algorithm, Steve and Nat needed to lay low. HYDRA/SHIELD knew that they were getting closer, they couldn't be seen out in the open, they couldn't even chance it with a disguise. Both the Captain and Black Widow had tried to come up with good places to lay low, but there was only one condition on Steve's part: " _we do not involve Persephone and that goes double for Joseph."_ Natasha agreed, but even she could see that it was a stupid condition.

Instead, they hid at Sam Wilson's house, a virtual stranger that Steve trusted. He took them in and gave them food and even a way to get to Sitwell.

 _'Yeah,"_ Nat thought, _'Seph is going to be beyond livid with him.'_

It was then that their plan was in motion.

(..)

Steve pushed Sitwell through the door to the roof of the building and the man rolled across the rooftop. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm." He ordered, Nat flanking behind on the left.

"Never heard of it." Sitwell scrambled up, backing away from a raging Steve as he fixed his glasses, lying through his teeth.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve questioned, never faltering in his stride.

"I was throwing up, I get seasick." Sitwell lied once again, backing away toward the edge of the rooftop just as Steve grabbed him by the lapels of his suit tightly, before he fell completely, towering over the smaller man.

"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're going to throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers." Sitwell was smug, he knew that Steve wouldn't throw someone off the roof, especially if he needed crucial information from them.

"You're right. It's not." Steve let go of Sitwell, stepping back, "it's hers." He inclined his head to Nat, who took that as her cue and kicked Sitwell in the chest, pushing him right off the edge.

"How are you gonna make all this up to Seph?" Nat questioned casually.

"Flowers would seem insincere and dinner a bit too pretentious and I'm terrible at cooking but she's too nice to tell me." Steve floundered before shrugging his shoulders, the panicked screams of Jasper Sitwell fading.

"Maybe you should just tell her what you told me. Tell her your promise to her and maybe buy her a nice ring." Nat grinned cheekily.

"Is that you're not so subtle way of telling me to propose to make it up to her?"

"I think it's time. You've been together for two years. I want little Seph and Steve's running around, named after me." Nat joked.

Steve chuckled, "I'll think about it."

"You better."

A gust of wind blew by just as Sam rocketed upwards, dropping Sitwell on the rooftop again, before he landed smoothly as Steve and Nat approached Sitwell once more, who scurried away from them. "Z-Zola's algorithm is a program!" He stuttered, his hand raised, palm up to stop them from coming closer, "for choosing Insight's targets." He panted.

"What targets?" Steve grounded out.

"You!" Sitwell threw his arm out in the general direction of Steve, "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defence, a high-school valedictorian in Iowa city." He gestured wildly, obviously shocked and scared to the core, "Bruce Banner, Steven Strange, Persephone Brandt, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now or in the future."

"Seph?!" Steve snarled, making a move to grab Sitwell by the throat but Natasha stopped him.

"In the future? How could it know?" Nat asked, trying to calm Steve from popping Sitwell's head off like a pop-top.

Sitwell laughed humorlessly, "how could it not?!" The HYDRA agent shakily got to his feet, looking directly into Steve's piercing blue eyes, "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." Sitwell looked around at the clueless faces of those around him, "your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores!" He listed only a few of the things that Zola's algorithm could do. "Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past, to predict their future."

"And what then?" Steve growled, watching as Sitwell murmured about Pierce, " _what then?!"_ Steve roared, grabbing Sitwell by the lapels, hearing the faint rip of the material but he couldn't care less.

Sitwell stared into Steve's eyes before speaking, "then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time." He revealed HYDRA's plan.

Steve couldn't think of anybody else but Seph.

She was a target.

 _Seph was on the list._

(..)

Seph sighed, watching the news, her hair damp from the shower with dark circles underneath her eyes. She hadn't slept at all and instead, trained as hard as she could. She saw her face pop up again, the anchor stating that ' _Miss America_ ' had yet to be found and if this was the end for America's Sweetheart. The pyrokinetic mutant scoffed before rolling her eyes, she had bigger things to worry about other than her status. She picked up the remote, about to shut the TV off, before she saw a breaking news report and saw the massive accidents all over the Washington DC freeway, with the terrified reporter saying that Captain America and unidentified men were battling in the middle of the Washington freeway.

Seph threw the remote and jumped up, running to Charles. "They're at the freeway, I need to go to them!"

Charles knew he couldn't stop her, but he could help her. "Alright, Persephone, but before you go, you should probably see what we have done for you. We took the liberty of making something for you, so you won't ruin the clothes you have when you fully transform." Charles led her to where the X-Men kept their suits and he opened one of the compartments. Seph's eyes widened as she looked at the leather suit with orange trim. It didn't have the X logo on it but then she wasn't part of the team. "It's a specially designed suit to withstand your pyrokinesis, just as Bobby's can hold his cryokinesis."

"T-this is for me?" Seph asked, eyes watering as her fingers glided along the specially designed leather.

"Yes. Joseph tells us how much money you spend on new clothes, so we thought this would cut your spending down by half at least." Charles smiled gently. "You must go to Steve and help him. Now, _Hell Hound_. Go quickly."

Seph nodded, her back straightening with the sound of her codename but not before she hugged him gently. Charles rolled away to give her space and she grabbed the suit off the mannequin it was displayed on.

"Let's rock." She whispered to herself, before she suit up.

(..)

The Soldier jumped on the car, ready to eliminate the injured Nat.

Nat's eyes snapped the flash of purple behind him just as Seph, clad in the leather suit, flew out of it, her boots implanting themselves in the Winter Soldier's back, shunting him forward and he dropped the automatic weapon. Steve ran forward, only to be stopped by the Soldier's metal fist to the shield. The loud metal on metal gong-like sound reverberated through Seph's body.

Steve was stunned and the Soldier used that to his advantage, pushing the shield violently to the left and he kicked Steve in the chest, making him fall. "Seph, what the hell are you doing here?" He yelled, hiding behind his shield as the Soldier used his machine pistol to shoot at both him and Seph.

Projecting her flames through her hand, she swiped her hand quickly to deflect the bullets and they splattered on the road in small puddles of steel. "Helping!" She called back, deftly avoiding one of the Soldier's agents that tried to slash her with their tactical blade.

"Seph!" Steve called, trying to protect her, but he was quickly blocked by the Winter Soldier himself.

"Baby, focus on your own battle. I got this." Seph said, turning her full attention on the agent.

He lunged for her and she avoided his swings and slashes with calm movements, pushing his hand away when he got too close. The agent roared in anger, smacking his chest before he lunged again, his movements now sloppy, filled with rage.

Seph could use that to her advantage now.

Blocking his knife, she touched his wrist, her fingers wrapping around the bare skin and she heightened his anger with one touch to the point where he passed out from the overwhelming emotion, just as more agents came barreling toward her.

Seph grinned, "let's put this suit to the test." Closing her eyes in concentration, she lifted her arms outward, palms out. Using her own body temperature and the heat from the fire around, even the air, she called it forth, her hair lifting in the breeze, the fire-engine red poured down from the roots of her hair, to the tips of the ends. Her eyes snapped open to reveal their blaze and roaring in exertion, she slammed her hands together, creating a scalding heat-wave that threw the approaching enemies back into the abandoned cars with visible force, as the cars crumpled in on themselves around the agents.

She turned and saw Nat on the ground, clutching at her right shoulder. Running toward the Russian assassin, Seph fell to her knees and held Nat as she slumped into Seph's body. "Hey, hey, Nat?" The pyrokinetic, raised Natasha's head and saw her eyes were a little filmy, her eyelids heavy and her skin was clammy. Blazing orange eyes darted down to the bullet wound.

"It's bleeding too much." Nat commented, trying to fight through the lethargic haze that settled in her mind.

"Listen, I'm going to do something and it's gonna hurt like a bitch. You trust me?" Seph said, pressing her palms to either side of the wound, blood staining her hands.

"What are you going to do?" Nat slurred.

"Cauterize the wound and wake you up a bit. On the count of three." Seph took a deep breath and Nat tensed, bracing for the countdown, "one-" as soon as the number was uttered from her lips, Seph's hands glowed with imbued power and Nat screamed in pain as the fire-wielding woman made quick work of cauterizing the wound and bringing Nat back to her alert state.

"What happened to two and three?" Nat growled as Seph pulled away, blood caking her hands.

"It would have been more painful if you were expecting it." She countered, before peeking over the rim of the car, to see Steve gaining the upper hand on the Soldier. Steve jammed his shield in the middle of the gears of the Soldier's robotic arm, rendering him helpless. In rapid succession, he quickly pulled the shield out, smashing the rim of it into the Winter Soldier's face before whirling around to use his free hand to grab the Soldier by the face and threw him over his shoulder with sheer strength.

As the Winter Soldier flipped over Steve and landed hard on the ground before rolling to his feet. In the process, his mask had come loose and fell to the ground. The Soldier turned, revealing his once-hidden facial features.

"Oh my God. ." Seph whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief as she walked forward, out of the cover of the car as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Bucky?" She heard Steve's shocked voice, but she couldn't take her eyes off the man who had supposedly died on the train mission to capture Zola.

James Buchanan _'Bucky'_ Barnes.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" Barnes asked and raised his handgun to fire.

Seph didn't have time to react before Sam literally fly-kicked Bucky away from Steve.

Getting up, Bucky raised the handgun again just as Nat fired a bazooka over her shoulder and the missile launched straight for Steve's best friend, but he was gone before it impacted.

Seph stumbled her way to Steve, but not before she was shoved to the ground heavily, with people screaming in her ears for her to stay down. A part of her wanted to scream back that they had already done it for her. She started to focus her power. "Hey, the mutant's getting feisty!" It was then she felt it.

The cold, glacial feeling that warped her entire body.

Seph couldn't help it as a blood-curdling roar ripped its way out of her throat, her lips blue and her eyes emulating an icy-white as Steve roared at them. Seph's tears froze in their descent against her skin as she tried to reach for Steve, before they lifted her up roughly, dragging her to one of the vans as Steve, Sam and Nat were dragged to the other.

" _NO!_ Leave her alone! Let her go! Please, just let Seph go!" Steve implored, but nobody was listening to him as they shut her in the back of the van.

"Transport her to the bank with the Asset."


	22. Chapter 22

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s_

 _ **WORD COUNT: 2, 858**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 22**_

 ** _The Bank_**

* * *

"HYDRA and Hellfire have been working in conjunction with each other since the early fifties." Fury spoke from his place in the chairs next to Hill, "whatever they need with Persephone, it could be just bait, or either they're going to recruit her or kill her, since she did take out an entire squad of their assassins without batting an eyelash."

"So, basically, none of these options are even close to good? She came to help us and now she's going to die?" Nat asked, jaw clenched as she watched Steve's fists tighten, knuckles white. His love was taken by HYDRA and Fury was spouting out facts like a robot, as if Seph was a line in some graph, as if she were a statistic, nothing else.

"Brandt made a decision when she risked her neck to save your sorry asses, I'd be very grateful." Fury fired back.

Steve's fists clenched hard, his knuckles cracking from the sheer pressure he was applying. His Seph, his loving Seph was gone, in the arms of enemy and Fury was telling him to basically to forget about her. No. No way, not happening. Seph was the only person to really show him the potential that the world he had woken up into was worth it and that she would be there with him, by his side to experience it all with him.

 _No._

"I'm not leaving Seph to HYDRA or Hellfire! They came after her two years ago and I'm not letting them take her again!" Steve snarled.

"You have no choice, _Captain_. You want to save the world from HYDRA or throw it all away for your girlfriend who's probably going to die anyway?"

 _"So, you're just going to leave her to rot?"_ A disembodied young voice echoed through the tunnel, and everyone was on high alert, looking around but Steve's eyebrows creased. He knew that voice, _"are you just going to bail on her, Uncle Steve?"_

"Joey?!" Steve called, panicked, _'what is he doing here? He can't be here! Where is he?'_ His thoughts ran rampant before there was a bright flash of purple and Joey landed on his feet, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a geometric patterned t-shirt with a thin cardigan laid over the top and he brushed the hood down as piercing sapphire eyes made contact with Steve's cobalt blue. "Joey!" Steve started forward, gripping the boy's shoulders as he slid to his knees, his emotions nearly running out of control at the sight of his adopted nephew right in front of him, Seph would always calm him, whether it was just her presence there beside him or using her mutation to calm him. "Are you alright?"

"Are you just going to leave her in the hands of the people that nearly _killed_ us, two years ago?" Joey asked one more time, ignoring Steve's question, his hands balling into shaky fists, glaring at his uncle with fury evident in his sapphire eyes.

Nat stood unsteadily, waving away the doctor that had taken out the bullet lodged in her shoulder, "when did you develop powers? I thought you weren't a mutant." Her words slurred slightly.

Without looking toward her, Joey answered, "when a bunch of those guys came after us at Poppy's diner during lunch. Some person with a metal arm got the drop on Aunt Seph and she was losing the fight. He was about to hurt her really bad. I couldn't even think before I punched him into the lamppost." Steve's eyes widened at Joey's explanation of his powers surfacing at the sight of his aunt in danger, but what was eating up at him with guilt was the fact that he wasn't there at all and that he knew who their attacker was. Joey's eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his lips turned down as he stared at his hands, before clenching them tightly into fists again. "Forget about my mutation, that can wait, I came here to help you but I find out that the bad guys have Aunt Seph and you're just going to leave her there to die." Sapphire eyes slowly turning into an amethyst purple as Joey focused himself back on Steve, "I've lost enough family, I'm not losing the one person who's stood by me after all this time, too."

"You're a kid, you can't do anything here, you have nothing to offer us and much less likely help us to stop the helicarriers." Maria Hill bluntly responded, not caring for the boys feelings. It was absurd for him to think he could help at all, just a boy was of no use to their mission.

"Hill!" Steve snapped, turning his head from Joey to glare at the agent next to Fury.

"I don't think you heard me." Joey growled, moving his glowing violet gaze from Steve to Agent Hill, looking and acting so much like Persephone that the World War II veteran could hardly believe it, "I never said anything about helicarriers, I'm talking about my Aunt, she's more important to me than your screwups." Agent Hill bristled at Joey's words, looking at the boy who looked so much older than twelve, going on thirteen.

"Joseph," Steve started, bringing Joey's attention back to him, "I'm not leaving Seph with them, no matter what anyone says, she's not collateral damage and I refuse to leave her in their hands, especially with the information we have now. I promise you not as a captain, but as a part of your family as your uncle, that we will save your aunt no matter what happens. I won't let her or you down." Steve's words impacted Joey and the purple slowly faded as his eyes filled with fearful tears.

"I just want her to be okay." Joey choked, the tears never falling, but the emotion was there and it was raw.

Steve's jaw clenched, "and she will be."

(..)

Seph coughed, her eyes opening slowly, her body was still shaking violently from the cold settling inside her, the wheelie chair beneath her squeaked as she slowly straightened her back with great difficulty. She could feel her muscles creak in protest, as if the ice in her veins was literally paralyzing her movement and powers. She was trying to call forth her flames, but nothing was working.

"Ah, the mutant is awake." One of the lab coats spoke eagerly as one of them grabbed her by the hair, lifting her head up roughly. Grunting in pain, her blue lips, pale skin and blurry hazel eyes greeted their wide expressions, "it seems the blood of the cryokinetic has a severe negative impact, considering the pyrokinetic's blood is too hot to be contained or recorded." Their voices were lost in the void of Seph's deaf ears as they roughly pushed her head down, letting her hair go as they went back to their analysis.

Blinking rapidly, she tried to free her vision from its blurry container, only to zero in on the Winter Soldier through the messy strands of her own hair.

He blinked as if he too, were just waking up, but the dark circles under his eyes proved different as he stared at the red-head with wide eyes. "James?" Her voice was weak, shaky and tired. His eyes widened with recognition but he didn't speak. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was remembering something, "you're Sergeant James Barnes, aren't you?" Reaching out with her shaky hand, Seph hesitated when she watched his muscles of his arm flex dangerously, but he made no move to stop her.

"Should we interfere?" Another lab coat asked.

"Maybe it will be informative." Seph wasn't listening to them, her focus was entirely on the man who Steve considered his brother as her shaky hand gently brushed against the back of his and suddenly she was pulled into his memories, through his emotions, her eyes burning orange once again and her hair burst into fire-engine red.

Confusion.

Fear.

Anger.

Sorrow.

Loss.

All at once.

Zola's smug face as he operated on Bucky, his fall off the train and Steve's shocked and heartbroken face as he fell from the moving train. His missing arm, the metal saw that cut through bone, his new arm. _'You are to be the New Fist of Hydra, put him on ice.'_ The last thing either of them could see was a beautiful blonde-haired woman, with very familiar clear-blue eyes smiling at them with sunlight backdropping her beautiful form. Bucky's hand was ripped from hers and Seph was pushed back from him just as he lashed out at an assistant that was fixing his cybernetic limb.

"That's enough of that, mutant." A thick Russian accent filled her ears before a hand from behind Seph closed around her throat, squeezing until her airway was at the point of sealing shut as the surrounding enemy agents pointed their firearms at Bucky. Seph wanted to scream at them to stop, that he was just confused, but she couldn't. Her vision was blurring and her head started to pound from the lack of oxygen, grabbing at the agent's wrist, she slapped at it weakly but it did nothing to loosen their grip.

"Farkov, let her go." A voice spoke and the tight hold on Seph's throat was gone and the pyrokinetic mutant sucked in much needed oxygen, coughing violently as her vision slowly started to clear and the drumming in her head ceased.

Flopping against the chair, her entire body was exhausted as she slowly flicked her eyes up, searching for a face to match the voice. Fear lanced through her entire nervous system as she stared at the man, "Pierce!" Seph's hazel eyes watched the director of SHIELD look over at her with emotionless eyes before turning back to Bucky, who was staring blankly ahead.

"Gag her." With his command, a thick material was forced between her lips and tied around her head tightly and Seph heaved from the rough treatment as her tongue started to dry from the material sucking the moisture from her mouth. "Mission report," Pierce ordered, but there was no answer from the Soldier, "mission report now." Still no answer.

So Pierce struck him, bending as he watched Bucky calculatingly.

The brief flash of pain Bucky felt as his head snapped to the right, washed over Seph and she flinched in the chair, her movement unobserved by the people surrounding. They were preoccupied on their leader and the soldier they used. "The man on the bridge," Bucky's cracked voice rumbled in the abandoned vault, snapping out of his trance and Seph's eyes filled with tears at his words, her heart aching with the thought of Steve. Bucky's eyes flicked to her, before turning to Pierce, "who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Seph wanted to scream and stamp her foot that he _did_ know him. They were like brothers, best friends until the end of the line. But nothing could be uttered from her lips, she couldn't even lift a finger.

Bucky's handsome, yet disheveled features took on a faraway and pained expression, "I knew him." He murmured.

Pierce sighed, grabbing another chair and sat opposite Bucky, his features softening as if he were talking to a child, "your work has been a gift to mankind, you shaped the century and I need you to do it one more time." Pierce lured Bucky with his soft words, shaping them as if he were cleansing the world instead of breaking it, "society's at a tipping point between order and chaos and tomorrow morning we're going to give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves." His words were calm, with the same level of hypnotic ability that a mother would have over her child to get them to adhere to her request.

Conflict between his confusing memories and Pierce's words was evident in his open blue eyes. "But I knew him." For one moment, his expression softened, eyebrow furrowing in worry, as if he hoped his handler could understand his predicament, that this man that was treating him rather kindly, he could trust with that information.

Sighing once more, Pierce stood once again, his back to Bucky as he looked to Seph, eyes pleading. "Prep him."

"He's been out of cryofreeze too long." One of the lab coats contested.

"Then wipe him and start over." With Pierce's command, Bucky's eyes widened a fraction before all emotion was wiped from his face.

Don't show fear. Fear makes you weak.

 _'Wipe him? What does that mean? What are they gonna do to him?'_ Seph questioned silently, wide and concerned orange eyes watched as they pushed him into the chair completely, his fear washed over her, his erratic heartbeat speeding her own and their quick breaths matched. They stuck a rubber mouth guard in his mouth before turning toward the computer and started pressing a few buttons to prompt the chair to respond.

Seph watched, horrified as the metal clamps trapped his arms in place and some contraption above his head slowly started to lower, turning into the correct position before she saw the electrical currents passing through the panels. Her eyes widened and they slowly darkened back into hazel as she realized what they were about to do to him.

Electroshock treatment, for his memories, that's what Pierce meant when he said to wipe him. He was going to be mentally wiped without any anesthesia and the device set to a high setting, where he could feel everything.

They were going to wipe Bucky of his memories, of every single memory he ever had or he was recovering and they would 'start over' with a clean slate. With a freshly warped mind to manipulate into doing their sick, twisted missions. Bucky's agonized scream jolted through Seph and the tears in her eyes slipped down her cheeks as she watched helplessly as they erased what little of Bucky was slowly returning, replacing him with a mindless soldier.

She _hated_ HYDRA.

Pierce turned toward her, unfazed by the agonized and screaming man not even three feet away from him and he strode toward Seph, and grabbed her by her wet cheeks, pulling her forward. Her eyes burned with rage. "You will be a wonderful asset for us tomorrow. A lovely little sacrifice for the world to see. Hell Hound's death will mark HYDRA's new world order. Those that live in fear of you and your power, will congratulate us, will welcome our ways into the world with open arms. Better look your best, sweetheart. I'll let Farkov help with that." His voice was cold, calculating and yet his features never changed from the hard, stone expression they were set in before he walked away without another word, his lackey's flanking him.

Purposeful steps emerged from behind Seph and a built, menacing blonde woman towered over a shivering Seph. "I am going to enjoy this, mutant." Her thick accent was familiar from before as she untied the gag, "and I'm going to enjoy hearing you beg for me to stop. You single-handedly killed an entire squadron of my own students and for that, you will pay."

"I thought they were. . . fair game and all of them were cowards, they chewed on a nice. . . cyanide pill before we were able to interrogate them and the other tackled me out a window, they. . . weren't exactly stellar students now were they?" Seph spoke through labored breaths, a teasing, unremorseful grin graced Seph's dry lips. Farkov's mature features contorted into rage, Seph didn't even notice it coming, but the sudden powerful blow split the inside of her cheek with the force of Farkov's jab. With whoever's blood was in Seph's veins, her power wasn't going to help and her regenerative healing ability had definitely slowed to a stop, as it worked in conjunction with her pyrokinesis. Blood filled her mouth as she spat it out at Farkov's feet, the taste making her nauseous and she chuckled, raising her head to glare at the Russian Hellfire operative, "you can do whatever the hell you like, but you'll never make me beg to scum like you."

"Oh, we'll see about that, _Hell Hound._ " Farkov grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"Give it your best shot, bitch." Seph snarled.


	23. Chapter 23

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot or pairings, then don't read._

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier only my character/s._

 _ **WARNINGS:** Graphic detail of torture and assault._

 _ **WORD COUNT: 1, 871**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 23**_

 ** _Muscle Memory_**

* * *

 _Strong arms wrapped around her, his body radiating warmth from the glacial chill that froze in her bones._

 _The violent shuddering slowly came to a halt as she burrowed into his chest, her hands pressing against his muscular front as she reveled in the scent that only **he** could emit with the scent of old leather, motorcycle fuel, rain and wood burning in a campfire. It was a heady scent that could set Seph on fire despite the abnormal frost that settled inside her._

 _Soft lips pressed against her chestnut red locks as his arms tightened around her body, his hands rubbing along her body to create friction. "Are you okay, Persephone?" His deep voice rumbled in her ear as he pressed another sweet kiss to her cheek, "You've gotten cold so easily since your powers manifested, but I've never seen you this affected by it before."_

 _Seph sighed gently as the cold started to disappear, her hair slowly turning crimson and her fingertips glowed orange as she expelled the last of the ice. A fire flickering weakly within her, warming her, "I'm starting to feel better, Steve. You shouldn't worry so much about me, babe."_

 _Steve smiled, his straight pearly whites on full display as he slowly leaned down, "I'll always worry for you, doll and I'll always love you."_

 _"I love you more, Captain." Seph whispered, tilting her head up to meet with her love as he chuckled before he started leaning down to meet her halfway:_

 _"I love you most, Se-"_

A strong blow to her cracked ribs propelled her back into reality as Seph gasped.

The pain almost too much to bear as she curled inside herself, groaning in agony before her head was sharply pulled back by her long hair.

Grunting in pain, bleary hazel eyes opened to see Farkov's weathered face directly in front of her own, dry lips stretching back to display yellowing teeth in a sadistic smile. One of the HYDRA assassin's hands was fisted in Seph's hair, pulling her neck back so far Seph thought it'd might break and in the other, twirling a syringe filled with blood, blood that frosted the component it was held in.

"Do you know how easy it would be to kill you, right now?" She asked, smile still in place. "It would be too easy. For an Omega level mutant that are supposedly the strongest of the bunch, you have such easy flaws." Lifting the syringe, she ran the needle down the side of Seph's face; who shuddered from the cold contact. "All we needed was a vial of a cryokinetic's blood, your cousin was the perfect choice." Looking over the red liquid with a look of reverence and stomach-wrenching glee, she turned her eyes back to Seph, her lips pale with a blue tint, eyes glassy and skin clammy. "O-negative. Perfect for transfusions which is just a bonus. Full circle, hmm?"

Seph grunted weakly, teeth chattering as she glared at Farkov, powder blue lips pulling back to reveal blood-stained teeth. Her face twisting in a chilling snarl, eyes flickering blue to hazel. "A-as soon as the op-p-portunity presents i-itself- I'm going to s-slow roast you into d-dust, you sadistic _bitch_."

"I doubt that, mutant." With ferocious intent, Farkov jammed the needle into the carotid artery with expert precision.

The agony was instant.

An anguished howl ripped through her, blue lips parted, eyes rolling back in her skull before shutting them completely as her body tensed instantly- the pain that had already been inflicted upon her was enhanced by the blood of her cousin working its way through her veins, freezing her powers in their tracks.

Seph could hardly feel the savage blows delivered to her as the fresh chill settled within her once more, bones cracking with the force of Farkov's assault on her sides.

She couldn't breathe.

Amidst the cold haze fogging her mind, a deep voice cut through the smoke in Russian:

" _Достаточно."_ His voice was cold, devoid of emotion, Seph curled into herself, hands attempting to create a barrier between Farkov's steel-capped boots and her broken ribs.

"This is none of your business, c _олдат._ " Farkov spat, swiping her hair away from her face, a sheen of sweat glistening against her forehead with her efforts against the pyrokinetic mutant.

" _Это стало моим делом, когда вы сделали его личным._ " Heavy steps resounded in the vault of the abandoned bank, stopping behind Seph who was trying to breathe. Taking in quick, gentle breaths as not to aggravate her injuries further.

Farkov growled, taking her stance, slipping a serrated blade in her dominant hand, "get out of my way, Asset. I'm going to carve the names of my students in her flesh- a fitting punishment for her transgression." The HYDRA operative's voice changed, becoming darker- unhinged.

It made Seph shiver in fear of what her captor was capable of- what she might do if whoever was fighting in her favor lost the battle about to take place.

Forcing her eyes open, her vision blurred momentarily before flickering irises found the tall shadow that stood over her- a dark angel, saving her from the demon that broke her in every way they knew how as the man spoke again.

" _Не забывайте, кто обучил вас, Фарков._ " Her vision cleared for a moment and her eyes widened as Seph finally saw who was protecting her- Bucky. He was glaring at Farkov with cold, steel blue eyes, jaw set and mouth straight- his expression was blank but the fury etched in the lines of his face was evident, " _хватит значит хватит._ "

Farkov growled, taking a menacing step forward but Bucky was unperturbed, his left arm whirred as the plates shifted to a more aggressive formation- allowing him a one punch kill if necessary, her eyes flicked from his arm to his unemotional eyes and back again before whirling to the exit, spitting a harsh expletive in Russian at her former mentor before stomping out of the vault.

With the violent departure of Farkov, Seph relaxed slowly- allowing herself a moment of peace, eyes drifting closed as she relished in the feeling that she was free for the moment from the barrage of verbal and physical assault until she tensed again when she felt arms slide underneath her body- lifting her like she was weightless.

Pain coursed through her body and she grit her teeth to stop from crying out as she opened her eyes and met Bucky's tormented ones while he carried her out of the vault, his metal arm supporting her back as his flesh arm gently curved around her thighs- aware of her injuries and he consciously tried to avoid them with every step he took.

"Why?" She managed to croak, throat raw and vocal cords strained from her screams, "why did you save me?"

"I'm not saving you." His features smoothed into a schooled expression of blankness, "I stopped her from killing you because you serve a greater purpose."

Seph grunted as his metal fingers dug into the bruised space of her ribs and he instantly loosened his grip, breath hitching and he stopped his stride to carefully situate her in a more comfortable position in his arms before continuing yet his eyes remained forward, almost unaware he even did anything out of the ordinary.

Even with her powers stunted by the blood of her cousin- she didn't need her empathic abilities to feel Bucky's worry, his concern almost palpable, though expertly hidden by the defenses he raised over his emotions. _'They wiped him of his memories but he still treats me with care.'_ Her brows furrowed as she scrutinized him carefully, noticing the very slight dip between his brows, the way his walk changed when she exclaimed in pain- to make it easier on her, _'muscle memory. It's encoded in his body to be careful, to protect someone who seems so small and in so much pain.'_ Seph rested her head against his shoulder, the cool metal of his arm seeming almost warm to her frozen state, _'he remembers, just not consciously.'_

A few moments pass before a silly thought runs through Seph's mind, causing her to chuckle, despite her predicament.

Bucky looked down to stare at her as if she were going insane, "what. . . what are you laughing about?" He asked, thrown off by the severely injured mutant in his arms, giggling like a little schoolgirl.

Seph laughed, the pain shoved to the back of her mind as she wheezed, lifting a trembling hand to her face, wiping the tears away and only said this:

"She never made me beg."

(..)

After sending Joey back to Xavier's school with fervent promises that he'd bring Persephone back safe and sound, they had been planning how to infiltrate SHIELD headquarters without causing a major problem that might completely screw up their plans to take down the helicarriers.

Steve sat on one of the rickety chairs provided, flicking through his wallet at the pictures he had stored behind his driver's license, multiple folded photographs of his life before Captain America, when he was just Steve Rogers with Bucky Barnes, with his family and more recent ones with Seph and Joey. One where they were at Joey's swim tournament where he won gold, Seph was hugging a wet Joey to herself- uncaring as the water seeped into her clothes and Joey looking at Steve to save him who was just laughing beside them.

Another photo was of Joey's doing, they were on a picnic together and Seph and Steve were settled together, feeding grapes to each other. The photo was of Seph stuffing a vine of grapes in Steve's mouth, both of them laughing like idiots as Steve tried to pull away, eyes shut and nose crinkling with his smile.

The last photo was actually a drawing of her, the first picture he ever sketched of Seph when they first met at the bus stop in the middle of the cold Manhattan night.

She was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous in his eyes.

A strong, opinionated modern woman who fought for what she believed in and fought for her family.

The first time he saw her shivering on the bench- his heart tumbled for her and he knew right then and there that he'd fallen head over hills for that young woman trembling at the bus stop and he'd do anything for her.

Anything.

* * *

 _ **Hey everyone!**_

 _ **I know, I know, I've been gone for a really long time, but I'm back. It's been a crazy long time and I've been super busy with my life- but I do apologise for my absence, life has been hectic for a long long time.**_


End file.
